C'est La Vie

And as long as it does not hit the fan, it’s all good and even if it does hit the fan, as long as it does not hit you, it’s all good and even if it does hit you as long as you can clean up good, then it’s all good, maybe it was even worth it, maybe you’ve learned something, maybe it will enrich you!

That’s 2009 for me.

Spending the first four months of the year in my hometown sparked some much needed realization, re-thinking and resolutions. In retrospect, I think the initial charm of working in Mangalore had just started wearing off. It was an almost annihilation vs acclimatization scenario at work too.

Then the assignment, having heard of the single street, desi dominated culture, I was kinda prepared for what I was getting into. However I really got off the wrong foot on the start of the trip itself with trying to postpone the trip by a week so that I could cast my vote in the Loksabha elections (missed polling day by 3 days). I think it was disappointing with my enthusiasm for administration and politics at their zenith during the time especially considering the efforts to oust ‘anti-secular’ candidates, not that it was successful in the end and not that my vote would have made a difference to the result!

I did not particularly enjoy playing the lead role that was forcefully thrust on me in the movie that was titled with a literal definition of being taking for a ride in Mumbai and then having to deal with the most arrogant staff at the ATL airport was just over the top! Thanks to them, I missed my connecting flight and was subsequently on stand-by for 3 more and then had to spend a day in Atlanta, all this after a painful 17 hr journey plus the 15 hours in transit!

From the Pacific Northwest to Northwest Arkansas, the differences are stark. Of course, it’s not the geographies of a place that make or break you, it is the people. Nothing much changes at the workplace and even if it does, I don’t want to dwell on it here. Slightly averse to workplace friendships, looking back, it’s been a good year with friendships and despite all the long distance friends I have, I can count at least one good friend here.

Where would I be without my long distance friends? Be it the innumerable travel tales or the little pieces of advice on health-care, the constant cribbing about your ex employer or ex girlfriend, the countless pictures from every single occasion back home, the process of learning to climb trees while rediscovering myself in the most surreal ways, smiling more and being a part of me while I made sure my glass is always half full (be it with wine or vodka or more recently whisky!) . You’ve stood by me through the rain and snow, you are very much appreciated. And to my sister, you are beautiful in every single way, you are loved.

If you blame me for the decisions you made in life, fine. Get on with it, move on, I still love you, there’s no two ways about it.

To my two best friends who are expecting babies on the very same day and coincidentally on my ma’s birthday, I wish you the very best and to my friend who’s facebook status can no longer say ‘single and complicated!’ you’ll be okay, you have a beautiful future ahead of you and don't forget the enlightenment you still owe us ;’). To all that’s been amiss in 2009 may it find its right path, to each of you, to all that you do in this year, may it make you happy, may you have no regrets and at the end of the day, take the time to wait for the smile that the eyes began and keep smiling.

And now this sounds like a speech! Happy New Year 2010.