The year that was -- 2009

Its that time of the year, beginning of a new one and the end of another to reflect on the year that went by. The usual norm in my life has been to crib about what I could have done better and what I have not done, but for the first time in my entire life and for sure going forward I have relished the year 2009 and all this thanks to the mega transformation that I have created in my life, the people who I have been with the way I dealt with circumstances and the way I created 2009.The above paragraph has a lot of ‘I,s’, but at times it is good for one to pat one’s own back on the achievements created by self. As human being’s we do not know how to respond, when somebody appreciates us, leave alone self appreciation and I can guarantee, that this is not my ego or self praise or the urge to show my worth.
The year began well with a business trip to the UK for 7 weeks, of which, the best experience was of heavy snowfall and me being present to enjoy every bit of it. Also I had the opportunity to get my prized possession of a DSLR. Though I was going through the cold in the UK, there was enough heat in India with the preparation for the D-Day i.e. marriage which was in full swing. As the days went by, I had lesser time on hand to get my part of the wedding preparation done, like shopping, inviting people etc. and even before I realised after landing in India in mid February I was en route to tumkur for the biggest event of my life till date.
And then we arrived in tumkur with a huge bandwagon of people from all over India and even before I realised or allowed the feeling of me getting married to sunk in, it was all over, I had lost my bachelorhood and was installed into the realms of major manhood, with my wife standing by my side. The marriage was over, then the trip to tirupathi and then the reception in Chennai and in the end, the month , March was done by. All I remember of my reception is I stood there shaking my head to acknowledge people and my hand to accept their greetings. The worst part is that, both of us did not even get a chance to have the fantastic menu on offer and that too eat it hot. Advise to people who expect a large number at their reception – take a break in between to have your dinner.
We moved into Trivandrum and I got to work only to find that April, whisked by. But we had a great and memorable trip / drive to munnar and back, which was awesome, except for the fact that we had company of family friends, which then denied us to term our first trip together as our honeymoon. So technically, we are still to have our honeymoon – Hahaha.
April to June was acclimatisation period, with one and another, as, for however long you know each other and court around, living under a single roof is different and in most cases when people court, they try to be at their best behaviour at most times. With being with each other, you then have to make choices, negotiate etc. on your habits, actions etc. than when you were on your own, alone in that splendid world, where the extra thing called responsibility of handling / living with another being (who because she believed in you) before the nuptial bond did not exist. Only if these periods of choices are accepted by each other, can you certainly term the other as the better half, else it would be the bitter half.
By this time, rekha had settled in enough that she was getting bored with things around her; don’t know whether it included me, that we had to make choices of either relocating to a city of our choice, where we had plenty of acquaintances or for her to look for a job over in Trivandrum. The latter than became more of a need, with a project tabled to me, where I had to travel to the UK in August for a couple of months, only to find out that the project now has evolved to continue through 2010 and looks eternal.
With this being the constrain, Rekha found a good job in a good company in Trivandrum and I flew over the UK. But with the prolonging of the project and that I had to continue there, distance and time zones started affecting even the newest of married people (though we knew each other and have been in this situation before though on opposite sides) and the choices and conversations that were had in the first quarter of our marriage (Am on a project, so trying to use some jargons).
The initial part of the project or time in the UK, was not that rigorous, as it was from October, that I found time to take some photos, travelled to Cardiff and spent time with little brother, wrote blogs (This is my first one since October) etc. But with the leg on the pedal, the rigour of the project accompanied with deadlines, I just found time to work, sleep, eat and make a few calls home for a few minutes, with certainly getting more than enough language from my wife for not giving her time. I even crossed that phase and it was time for me to make the vacation back home for Christmas. The thought of it gave me warmth and rekindled my energy, which certainly was getting sapped, due to long working hours. On the other hand, of me not being in the UK for the festive season was on my mind, but enjoying the warmth of my wife was far more appealing than the celebration in London. Also that, if I had made the latter choice of being in UK, I would have found heat and more heat arising from her – Hahaha.
The year ended really well, with the visit to India and spending some quality time with Rekha, my folks and hers, only to return to the UK, in the first week of January 2010. Overall, it has been a great year, I have known how to make every year a great one and it purely lies in our hand to make it great. There are some plans and promises for 2010 and am eager to create them and make it bigger than 2009. Lastly, thank God for giving me the courage, strength, health to make the last year a great one and to all those people who helped me, even in the minute of way possible, from the maid servant, to car washer to my friends, colleagues, stakeholders, relatives and finally my parents and brother – a BIG thank you.