In with the New

2009 was the first full year I spent not working towards making money. It’s been nineteen months since I quit my job. A job that provided me with a monthly salary, health insurance, airline miles, hotel points and the choice to live in New York. That choice of living in Manhattan, having a one-bedroom apartment with a nice address, fine dining, theater, sporting events etc. was lost the day I decided that working in the IT profession was too high a price to pay. I stayed back on for four more months until my savings depleted away to nothing.

Moving back to Bangalore was tough, to put in mildly. Way tougher than I had expected. Way, way tougher than it had been moving from Chicago in spite of having lived there much longer. I was in the biggest funk, completely unable to shake off the Big Apple from my system. In a few choice words, 2009 started for me with a whole lot of whining, complaining, bitching, moaning and groaning.

Thankfully 2009 ended for me in a very different way. The city was the same in January last year, when it had annoyed me to no end, as it was in December, when I was happy to call it 'home' again. Over the course of the year, my many journeys and the experiences I had, taught me to accept my surroundings and focus on what I had, instead of what I could’ve had. After all, no one had twisted my arm and made me quit my job! As much as I wanted to have the most decadent chocolate cake, I couldn’t possibly eat the entire thing too. Something had to give. In this case it was my ‘attitude’!

My time in the Himalayas gave me a better understanding of who I am as an individual. Not as a son, a brother or a friend. It also made me appreciate the little things, through the eyes of the children that lived close by and were pretty much the only company I had. It took three months of solitude for me to be bored with myself. Three months is a long time. I could very easily bore most people in less than a few hours. Or even during the course of reading this piece.

Summer of 2009 in New York made me realize that as much as I loved the city, I missed the proximity of family. My sister who used to live in New Jersey had moved from there and that had created a vacuum-of-sorts. In some inexplicable way, this time I felt a little disconnected. Was it the superficiality or had I really moved on? I know I will never stop loving New York (in fact I’m already planning my next visit there) but it seemed like the honeymoon was over. My next visit will tell for sure!

My ten weeks in Hong Kong reminded me of the importance of being healthy. And as long as we have our health, we must make the most of it. My cousin, who is bravely going through a rough period of illness, is an example of having the right attitude. If she can smile her way through her discomfort, what the heck do I have to bitch about?

And finally after bonding with family and friends in Delhi, Chandigarh, Chicago, Chennai and Coimbatore (city names that start with a 'C' were obviously very popular in 09!) over the course of the year, I came back to Bangalore, the city with near-perfect weather and where my year began. I’ve gone from war-zone streets by my previous apartment to torn-up sidewalks by the current one. The street widening, laying new drains and other such projects have a way of following me. Maybe I’m being put to the test except that I haven’t figured out why. I do however know that I’m not going to let it bring me down. Because this is the new me. The non-whiner, non-bitcher, non-complainer, non-moaner and non-groaner.

I have a really good feeling about 2010. There’s so much I’ve planned to do. I want to
Write a lot
Experiment with gourmet cooking
Travel to places I’ve never been to before
Stop Procrastinating
Get fitter
Laugh more
Spend quality time with family
Make new friends and keep the old ones
… more

Not to forget, somewhere along the way, figure out a way to pay for all of this. Minor details.

I doubt if I’ve had such high expectations from any year in the past. And I also know that things don’t happen on their own. So I guess it must be that I feel so ready to make a dent. I’m sure each one of you also has lots to look forward to. So let’s work towards it and make it a landmark 2010.

Happy New Year!

Reaching out to the Sky

Patience is not a virtue I possess in abundance. When I returned from New York to Bangalore I was all set for my next adventure. Except that I didn’t know what the adventure would be. There were rumblings of ‘working on a movie’, ‘making a corporate training film’, ‘taking up some consulting/training opportunities’ (zomg!) but they were just rumblings. I didn’t know which of them would materialize and more importantly which of them I really wanted to pursue.

Not knowing where my life was headed was driving me up the wall. Barely any time had passed since I had returned but I needed answers right away. I was waiting for a sign and not doing a great job at it! Shall I go back to New York? Shall I take up a job in Bangalore? Do I want to start a restaurant or an exclusive catering service? Questions that I wasn’t getting an affirmative response to. From myself.

And then one evening while I was having a chat with my friend Aparna (Paul-Jain) who, during the course of our typing, pointed me to this site that made my decision for me. I was going to be a volunteer teacher in the Himalayas! Suddenly New York no longer interested me (for now) and the idea of spending extended time in a beautiful mountainous region, teaching little kids English, living in a little room with minimal comforts, traveling to places that I’ve always wanted to go to and writing the book that I’ve been itching to … it couldn’t be more perfect!

Going back to New York would have been too easy in some ways. The hardest thing would have been to get a job in this economy but other than that I was going to be back in an environment I had lived in and loved. The excitement of exploring something new was missing and even when I was speaking to my friends in the Big Apple about the possibility of my moving back, my heart was someplace else. I’m not saying that I’m never going back to New York – I hope to and I would love for it to be my base city. But right now I’m headed ‘someplace else’.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved the mountains. It’s been my favorite place to vacation. When I lived in the US, I was so overwhelmed by the mountains in Colorado and Montana. It’s about time I explore the Himalayan mountain system, which happens to be the planet’s largest, and is home to the world’s highest peaks. My heart is pounding just writing about it!!

A couple of days ago I was reading a cover story of a magazine which said ‘2008 – Thank God its Over!’. Not quite my sentiments. I thought 2008 was one of the most exciting years of my life and I have my postings to prove it! I had the ultimate urban experience in the ultimate urban environment. And now its time to do something completely different. No more unlimited choice of restaurants, theatre, sporting events, bars, nightclubs, waking up to police car sirens, noisy neighbors, annoying tourists. I foresee a lot of silence. It’s going to be so dramatically different. It’s time to reach out to the sky.