the year that was

you know...of late (the last 2-3 years), i've started believing time is flying by faster than ever. and it always scared me. well, in comparison, 2007 has been truly frightening. so much has happened. so many new memories, bittersweet in nature!! if every year is going to be like this one, there's no way my little brain will remember even an iota of my life



it feels like only 4-5 months have passed, not 12, since last new year, spent in hyderabad (convention centre) with family. and it was a good time. after spending 4 days in hyd, i had returned to campus, only to feel homesick and scamper back in a day (chucking my goa plan) to surprise all!!



from there, memories just keep accumulating. the next was the manic process of placements. i loved my cv. i had been working on it since november. i was almost a star on campus when i got 16 shortlists from 20 applications. my name was on almost every list. and i pulled through. got 4 offers, selected my 'dream job' at kotak, and spent the rest of placement season drinking in the beauty of campus. the best was that placements ended the day we were leaving, so we were able to enjoy the holi/placement party about 2 hours before leaving. talk about JIT!!!

the next is our holiday to dharamsala/dalhousie. 6 days. cold wave. inadequate protection. incessant rain. potts' loosies. dipu's rum. snow. peeing in the snow. missing our train from chakki bank by 24 hours. not realizing it. general compartment. eunuch!!



and in the blink of an eye, convo. the proudest i must have ever felt. finally a graduation ceremony. by that evening, half our batch had left and campus seemed a less friendly place. the goodbyes. leaving the next day. i cried when i left home to come to L. i didnt cry while leaving it. but i felt the pain more acutely. i think campus set me free. made me more confident, more sure of myself. in a 100 acres of some of india's brightest minds, though i barely passed, i leaped ahead. can i even begin to express the gratitude and love i feel for the place and the people??



2 months at home. nothing on my mind. sheer bliss. catching up with the life i had left behind 2 years ago.

interjected with 2 weeks in europe. of which 5 days were alone. sheer independence of travel, accomodation, everything. granted, europe is easy to travel around. but that knowledge doesnt come before experience. and it is a whole other continent, with different languages and attitudes. and for the first time, i bonded with uncles and aunts....not just as a nephew, but as a person.

another thing....the world shrunk for me. i started meeting people i knew all over the place. in malls (such as bittu), at airports (such as siddharth the pcom at delhi, samarth dada in frankfurt!!) and in other cities (sounak in cal). plus i knew people all over the place, people i could choose to meet.

anyway, then came mumbai. although ready for change, i was still upset leaving the wonderful life of home. bbay didnt make my initiation any easier. i got fleeced by the cabbie from the airport. it was friggin humid and i was sweating rivulets. i stayed at a hotel of lesser calibre than i expected, and the restaurant was closed by the time i reached.
took a month to find a half decent place to stay. hated travelling around mumbai. the only thing that made it easier was that there were tons of people i knew here....kept bumping into them as well.

well.....now life has settled since those trials. been staying here for 6 months. made a trip to hyd for meena mausi's silver anniv. went to kashid/murud with 'the gang'. went to goa with 'the gang'. went pub hopping, discing, friday night movie watching with 'the gang'. and now i dont know what i'll do in delhi once i shift, without all these people.

met a certain lady....am still wondering what that's about......
met an old school friend after 7 years....am still wondering about that too!!!! that's a heck of a memory by the way....

got initiated into work life. now this totally sucks. i miss being a student. i hate office. 7 months. and the frustrations of a disorganized company. making new friends/colleagues. a boss. muster for attendance. sales.
positives. party at poison. sneaking murli n shek into it. sri lanka.

good and bad have been mixed this year. among the worst...drifting apart from smriti. i miss her sometimes. feel guilty for not being there at her wedding.

anyway....more goods than bads i think. more importantly, so many memories.....i'll try and remember you, 2007, as the year in which i discovered....