It's funny how somberly 2016 crept in. I remember taking a solo walk, at 6 am on 1st January 2016. I pompously like to call it the beginning of my Go-solo saga! I had spent the night in a room with my favourite people, as we ushered in another year of ticking bucket-list goals. Now I didn't remember much. The spoils of the night seemed distant, the embarrassing videos conveniently pushed out of the corners of the mind... why didn't I see the sunrise more often?! The first day of the new year sounded so officious to my mind, yet the man and woman sweeping the dried leaves off the lawns did not notice anything special about it. Days crept in, days crept out. In all the bustling of the early morning, I walked on impassively, promising myself that this year will not just trickle by. This will be the year of change! In fact, it was only the previous night that I set my heart on going down the MBA road (until then forms and exams were only just mechanical). Thankfully, exactly two and a half months later, I had the opportunity to take the plunge!
And what a year of change it has been! Right from giving up the comforts of a corporate life to struggle to balance balance-sheets! To moving away from friends I called family, to find another bunch to call my own... It has been a year of giving in, giving up a bit, and gaining things that matter.
Over twelve months, 2016 played out a story that was shocking (Nico Rosberg announced his retirement from Formula a week after he became the champion for the first time!); it was surprising (did anyone of us give Trump a chance?), and sobering (did we think as a race, we could become as base to look away from pleading refugees?). Every piece of news brought another tremor unless of course, the news was that Coldplay was coming to India!
The numbers don't tell the full story - the year saw me travelling to 7 states and 17 places... Like every new years' eve, I had set myself up for 50 books in the year, and a few kilos to lose... I ended up with 5 glorious books, and about as many kilos up too!
I pruned my inner-circle, found keepers, may have cut out a few, and also a new 240 to meet and greet...
It has been a year of epiphanies - that usually happens when your facebook wall is full of people getting hitched and you are trying to make people like your fest page. The year saw many stable relationships unravelling, and equally, some of my friends going the distance. Happy as I was for them, in some way, it made me realise how much further I have to go and things I have to do before I could do think about settling down. The proverbial miles to go before I sleep.
2016 was supposed to be the year I figured it out - yet here I am, leaving it to minor selection results to decide on my career trajectory! Maybe I ended the year none the wiser, but much stronger in spirit.
Incidentally, I spent the waning hours of the year with the same group of favourite people - a reassurance that spreads some 8000 miles apart! I lurked my way to the north of the country into another unplanned, impromptu trip. I spent the new years' weekend travelling some 3000 kilometers, sleep deprived for 48 hours, picking up 16 UNO cards in one chance, belting out '90s songs, and laughing every minute of the way. If the first day of 2016 set the tone for change, 2017 please be as fun!
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About the Author:
Udisha Sinha, SPJIMR