2016 Recap; Hello 2017!

Another year gone, seemingly in the blink of an eye (why o why? Take it slow, life!), and all I can think is, "THIS was the year of absolute changes and it's incredible how I've come to accept and embrace it." You know how I would always state that I don't really like changes, but then comes a time in life when you are so severely tested that it finally dawns upon your scorched soul that changes can be for the better and it'd be wise to enjoy life the way it is. No whining.

I'll be frank. I did whine. A lot. 2016 brought with it tons of mind-boggling situations, major decision-making, super annoyances BUT with the grace of the almighty (and my restored faith in Him) the year ended quite pleasantly. Here's a summary of 2016 (including resonant answers to deep questions):

2016 brought me to the edge. It was scary but the view was exciting.

January 2016--March 2016

1. Reminiscing the past by re-reading Harry Potter! I ended up reading just the first four books, after which life happened I realised we need to work to survive.

Lesson learned: Work is important, but not important enough to discontinue reading Harry Potter! Nothing ever is.

2. Feeling inhibitions that my three-month old workplace isn't ideal. The feeling quickly escalated and I began a job search in the same industry (aka publishing aka the home for my beloved books). Lesson learned: Listen to your heart and begin looking for a job right when you feel it! The process takes ages and you might end up losing your sanity if you aren't quick enough. I saved mine, thank goodness!

Is this what I came for? Err...

3. Travelling to Jaipur with a couple of girl-friends just to chill and relax. Experienced life in Zostel, roamed around the city markets, visited historical forts and acted like typical tourists. #itwasfun

Lesson learned: Trips with friends always equal jannat.

4. Securing a freelance work op with a biggie publisher. Hi-5! The best two months of my work life (after which... erm... please don't ask. Kbye.)

Lesson learned: Don't judge yourself based on others' opinion of you. Also, good times don't last. But again, it's all for the best!

*sigh* Good days!

April 2016--June 2016

1. The family trip to Australiaaa. Those days I felt like I knew what it means to be truly happy--it was such an amazing trip! You can read about it in the previous post.

Lesson learned: The frog needs to get out of the well more often.

Because the world can be fun!

2. Hard luck and illness can strike anyone, even a 5yo barely two months into school. My beautiful nephew was diagnosed with cancer. We did some fundraising to help the family cover treatment costs. It was an overwhelming experience for us all as we saw people from all walks of life come forward to help.

Lesson learned: You can never know beforehand who's going to be your support in times of trouble. Be grateful for everything.

Update: His initial phase of chemo is almost at a close, and he seems to be doing well. Much love and appreciation for everyone's help. :')
You can follow his story on this Facebook page.

July 2016--September 2016

1. Desperation at the job front, looking at other industries and failing classically. Realising that successes are hard to get, and keeping one's will power in check requires every ounce of effort one can muster.

Lesson learned: Keep going. Be visibly appreciative of family and friends who stick with you even when they suffer the effects of your mood swings.

October 2016--December 2016

1. Incessant prayers worked their magic and I got just the very thing I wanted. It also feels quite exciting, so yay!

Lesson learned: Feel free to weave your dreams, but always go with the flow. Every experience gives lasting value and shapes your mind, psychology and behaviour. Be open and accepting, and before you know, you'll get what's best for you. And you'll know it when you see it!

If only I looked just as cute!

I recently came across these lines by the philosopher Socrates, which resonated with me instantly:  “If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.”

2. Friendships have incredible power. Those who believe in you when you yourself don't, those who "make the effort" to help ease things for you, they're the ones to hug tight!
Lesson learned: More often than not, you wouldn't see it when you're low, because it's extremely trying to think of anything but your helplessness, but every once in a while when the depressing feeling passes, you'll see the depths of your friendships (or the extreme shallowness of some, for that matter). When you see it, you'll work at becoming a better friend yourself.

~ ~ ~

Matters of interest

1. I'm a lot more confident now, thanks to the tough situations I faced this year. I also met new people and it was fantastic!

2. I realised that hard work pays. You just have to stay cool, calm and confident, and believe you're going to win. That way, even if you lose, you still feel like a winner--rejuvenated and energized to start all over again or to look for alternatives, both of which are equally important.

3. Life is finite and too short to

- worry over materialistic gains

- overthink about what someone said to you out of ignorance or spite

- not enjoy each day

- spend time eating junk food
- think about people

Always!

4. Sometimes you are just not the same you as before. It can be a painful transition, knowing you don't feel like doing the things you liked doing, but at some point of time comes the ultimate relief--an inner acceptance of things that doesn't burden you with guilt or regret. It's pure evolution when you look at life from the other end of the kaleidoscope and find the view just as mesmerizing.

That's a lot about 2016 (not by my standards, and you know it. But I gotta think about you too), so let's move on to the much-sought-after things in 2017! Woohoo!

#1: The new job! I'm nervous and excited and it feels like I'm being given a second life. Thank you, dear God. I'll make you proud.

#2: My girl-best friend's wedding!!!! OMG I never before knew weddings could be so exciting! #funahead

Gonna be like this :P

#3: Becoming a kickass book blogger (I'll be here too, my pet). I will admit--I sucked at blogging in 2016 and I'm not even using the but-my-brain-was-dead-with-other-things excuse. I didn't even read 50 books (I think. I need to check Goodreads right away! Ohman. I read 39 books, the lowest in five years! I know, I know. I had decided not to go with numbers but you can't help taking a peek every month or so, especially when you have been overachieving your goals for years. I'm gonna make up for it this year. I mean, I MISS BOOKS! It's weird--the one whole year I worked in publishing, I read the least number of books. #thissucks) 

Anyway, this means I'm gonna be on the lookout for the latest books AND find my way to them AND devour them like a hungry bookworm AND post amazing reviews on my blog here (Subscribe if you haven't. I promise you won't regret it.) I might get into bookstagram too. You never know. (But you'll know if I do, because if you read this, you're bound to follow my bookstagram (which is instagramming about books)). Naturally I'll be into photography as well.

#4: Read more (as mentioned in #3) and read DIVERSE. Ugh, just read!!! I don't even like myself when I haven't read enough.

#5: Learn other language(s): Includes Punjabi (which I should have by this time), Spanish (which I should have remembered, having learned it for two years), French (just 'cuz I wanna. Also 'cuz I make insane goals).

#6: Learn about make-up and hairstyling: I'll do this at a very basic level, but I'll do it! Why? (And YOU, the friend, stop looking at me like that.) Because I'm a girl and a grown-up and I still don't know about these two essential things. I mean, why look average when you can look excellent?

#7: Don't waste time thinking about or because of people. Just do your own thing because your time is the most important thing--why not spend it in a useful activity?

#8: Keep the phone/computer away before bedtime. It's not only harmful but I haven't read a book at bedtime the ENTIRE year because of these two addictions. In fact, this reminds me, I haven't recharged my poor Kindle for two whole months! #stopthisatrocitynow

I wanttt!

#9: Say it. A lot of things go unspoken just because I'm confused about the other person's mindset (which is a rarity, because generally I know it by instinct, so people who confuse me also interest me greatly!). Therefore, to save myself the pain of overthinking, I will just be upfront and ask what the matter is! 

#10: Be chill. Enjoy life. Spend time with friends. Laugh more often (this is a need because I've had people tell me I don't smile enough and it feels so weird because... I don't know. I'm happy but it doesn't show on my face for some reason? Of course people aren't like people at home who can crack me up in a second, and they know my laugh is no less than a full-blown guffaw.) Anyway, laugh when someone cracks a joke. :P

#11: Learn more about Sikhism and teach you peoples about it too. I've done some reading and listening in 2016 and it has made me feel ever so lucky to have been born in this community, and it inspires me to live up to the name and do what we're supposed to do as Sikhs (be charitable, be kind, be truthful, be strong and fight for rights, to begin with). Also, today celebrates 350th birth anniversary of the tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, also founder of the Khalsa and the one who instructed Sikhs to follow the Guru Granth Sahib Ji as the Guru to know about God and ways to live life. A powerful warrior and spiritual leader, Guru Gobind Singh Ji inspires us even today. I'd recommend this 43 minute documentary on his life: Life of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

That's a lot to remember for a year, so I'll stop at that. I'm just happy 2016 is over and the new year comes with new promises and I am in a mindset to enjoy it, which is so awesome. Yay! How did 2016 treat you guys? Any resolutions for 2017?

Bidding Farewell......

Almost three years ago

I feel uncertain as I enter the gate cautiously, trying to subdue the new-to-the-place-and-I-don't-know-a-single-soul feeling, doing best to look confident, stealing glances to find a single face I can recognize. None. I stand for a while with the nervous crowd near the gate, trying to see where to go. I see parents accompanying laughing kids, so sure of themselves, knowing where to go and what to do. I feel so lost, so vulnerable. The crowd moves and so do I. I settle along with others, finding a seat at one of the corners and trying to make myself invisible, not even bothering to settle somewhere near the pedestal fans. The heat is searing and the tent doesn't do anything to stop it. I find myself once again trying to locate a single face that seems familiar, but then I give up too soon. What with my inability to process and retain faces and places, it's a very big deal that I've made it to the right place. I hear the speeches, watch the performances and study each teacher as they move around, guessing who could be those I'll be seeing regularly in the next three years of college. 

The official orientation is over and we're supposed to move to our respective department rooms, for a different kind of orientation. Why don't they just leave us already?, I think agitated. I didn't even hear properly what room I am supposed to go, just some computer lab. As I'm mindlessly moving with the crowd again, not even knowing where my crowd is, I feel a surge of anger for my parents. Why did they have to be so busy, not even accompanying me on the first day of what I called (or thought) was my independence! Wait, independence. That's why. I'm supposed to be free and not depend on my parents any more. Before I could think of any more accusations, I see a pretty face and I know she'll be in my course! I've definitely seen her somewhere! I go up to her and ask some specifics and I'm glad to know she'll be with me, in the same course. I walk with her and her mother to the lab, feeling as if I already knew where it was. It's then that I start to look around. 

It isn't really bad. Fascinating, rather. Trees, plants, lawns and in the middle of it all, two dilapidated classrooms. That's where the teachers said we'll have classes. Cool, I think, considering how I love peace and quiet. That's how it all started. Looking forward to every new day, stuffing down canteen food standing outside the classroom because the teacher had the class started, doing activities in large groups, having coffee when the class was going on, laughing over things generally not 'laughable', taking care to dress up nicely and complimenting each other, finding out new places to hang out, joining societies that have made remarkably memorable memories, group studying and then deciding it's not really a good idea since no one actually studies anything, cursing the system when we spent hours just to submit our fees, cramming answers two minutes before the exams and also seeing a few friends gradually drift away, to see the class forming unique groups, seeing the all pervasive change taking over our lovely huge group and disintegrating it into so many pieces, each a different hue.

At Present 

I'm moving around the place as if I own it! I'm aware of every piece of land and just about many many familiar faces. I catch a few eyes and return the smile. I'm moving with a purpose and know where to go, know who to look at and who to avoid. :P I've got my friends and I'm no more a loner. That sweet face I first saw is still there, walking beside me as my best friend, just like every day of the three college years. I sometimes don't like the stairs and the new building, that made us leave our quiet spot after a year of enjoyment. I don't like the way this is so crowded and that I've to bump into unknown faces sometimes (can't help my clumsiness!). Still, I appreciate it. It just shows my college is on the path to development (not my cheesy line, I think I heard it somewhere :P). I sometimes miss those faces who we used to talk so much to, from whom we took advice on matters I now consider worthless. Even then, there are new faces and new personalities, but definitely there isn't that spark I knew in the seniors.

Now, when I move around college, I take special care in taking in each place and the memories associated with it. It's amazing how we haven't left a single tree unattended! There's almost something I can think of with each place, each step. I walk slowly, as if my days are numbered here (um..which is true, by the way) and try to take in as much as possible. I smile more, love more, laugh more and whine less. After all, it's going to be just a few more days I'll be there, before the three years of college come to an end, before I move up to some other place, some other aspect of my life where I'll probably feel slightly more confident (and yes, independent), but where I'll have to once again, begin the search for faces I would want to know more about.

As we're decking up ourselves for the Farewell party, I remind myself once again that it isn't going to be like the previous two years. We'll get on beautiful clothes and make ourselves crazy over it, but we wouldn't be enjoying the proceedings watching the final year students walk up to the stage to gather their titles, it would be us who'll be the ones anticipating the proceedings, going up to the stage, saying farewell and bidding adieu to what could be some of the best years of our lives, with many memories that can make us live a lifetime... Just like someone ancient like me could say, I'll miss every being, every plant, every place I walked with wonderful people, knowing I couldn't ever get or experience something like this ever again. 

R-E-C-A-P-I-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N !!!

Even though I had something new to post (which I'm going to save for a better time), I'm not going to post anything new. Wait, this post is a new post, even if it doesn't essentially have anything new! See, THIS is called exams-are-looming-over-your-head-and-you-haven't-started-studying-yet syndrome! :P

Thanks to my awesome habit of leaving everything for the last two weeks, I'll have to use every single minute starting today (which should actually have started yesterday :P), till the 18th of March, when my exams get over and I'll be able to blog about it guilt-free!

But I just couldn't disappear from the blogosphere awein, just-like-that, no? I've already given reasons for the next two non-posting weeks, and I'm going to leave you with my past posts! That's what I sometimes like to do, read what I had blogged about almost two years ago! Some posts seem just like a yesterday thing, and some feel ages old. 

This was my first post ever! Getting Late!

I don't even remember what made me create a blog in the first place, and when I had finally made it, the first thing I posted was about being late everyday? :P LOL! No wonder it's acted like some kind of jinx and I haven't been on time, especially since then! (and whoa! No capital letters, no formatting. Idiot me.)

This was the first time I posted about seeing an act of child labor that had me agitated. Quite the Irony. I can see capital letters, but needs formatting. :P (I was really moved by the picture, 'One child's rhyme, other child's destiny').

This is hilarious! When I learned driving, this was what I felt! Crazy Rides! And this post contains the first comment this blog ever received by a senior in college, who inspired me with his own blog. (Check it out- Thinking Cap).

This was also the first instance I talked about in Metropolitan Diary in HT City!

Keep Your Cool was a random post, where I gave my silly tips to deal with even sillier situations! :P

A World Apart is one of my favorites, since it talks about the world of dreams- something I hold on to dearly. I just LOVE the weird unidentifiable connection with dreams and the conscious mind. I would recommend you to read it for sure. :)

Howw can I not mention my first ever Metro Diaries!! Just something that's so much a part of my life. Metro Diaries #2 followed suit pretty soon.

Unheard Wish is the first attempt at a sentimental poem thingy. That was about it, though. I haven't attempted another one since! :P

Being Naughty would tell you how I think of devilish ideas for those who're just annoying! ;)

Exams??? No problem was a humor-filled straight from the heart post about my suggestions for doing well in exams! It's exam time for most of us, you might just benefit from it! :P 

While you're at it, see why I find exams Unfair!

The Ride was a pitiable attempt at Fiction, supposed to be a scary account, but ended up leaving readers (my brother, parents, friends) in giggles.! *sigh*

The Transition talks about feelings I experienced at the beginning of the final year in college (the feeling's not changed a teeny weeny bit!)

What Real HP fans don't like- This was the result of a harrowing experience at the theater, when I had gone for the Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows movie, and got my enthusiasm punctured by morons everywhere!! 

The Indian Way of Life- Something all Indians can identify with. ;). The little and the not-so-little things we do!

The Greater Creatures is an account of my experience when I saw what drives people to extend a kind hand towards other creatures, and why some people don't. (In other words, the time when I saved a dog! :P)

The last post for 2011 and the one that talks about fun and fulfilling things I really want to do! A New Year, New Living: Beyond Everyday was inspired by a HUGE (read 14 pages long) cover story in Mint Lounge, that I found too good to resist!

I've realized I've posted so many of my previous post links, so many that no one's even going to read it! But so what, I've got to at least do something before I disappear, hence this post (which doesn't have anything new! Haha!). I'll still be on the lookout for lovely comments from lovely readers, so don't hesitate! I'll surely reply back! :)

And hey! No one's congratulated me on my new blog, which is all about Books! :D

If you're a book lover, please go through it and let me know what you think! I would love to interact with like-minded people and the really smart ones who loouveee Fiction (or books in general!). 

'<'Journal of a Bookworm'>

Have a Happy week! (or two weeks! :P)