A New Beginning

And it’s the start of a brand new year! Welcome 2009! Before the year sets in too much, I thought I’d take a few minutes to reflect upon my life in 2008. Here goes:

January
I remember on the 7th I’d had a hypoglycemic attack (if that’s what you call it). In simple words, my blood sugar level dipped way low and I passed out early in the morning while making myself a cup of tea. I hurt my head pretty badly coz I fell to the floor and I remember it used to hurt for several weeks every time I did my hair. I also get lots of lectures about healthy eating and the pointlessness of diets (though I talked myself hoarse explaining how I wasn’t dieting, but who listens?) Anyways, I was lucky in many ways, because:
a) I could have fallen forwards instead of backwards and ended up burning myself badly because there was a saucepan full of boiling water on the gas cooker.
b) I could have got a serious head injury
c) Something could have been majorly wrong in my brain, but it isn’t, thank God. It was just because of too little sugar. I was actually forced to tuck into chocolates and mithai and all kinds of sweet yummy stuff! Who would complain? :)

February
Second year prelim exams, that’s all I can recollect for this month. Oh yeah, it was a close friend’s birthday, I remember calling him on the morning of the 17th and, quite strangely, I remember every little thing we talked about. I have a good memory for such things!

March
Second year final exams! My centre was this really pathetic college and I had this really strange guy sitting beside me and my friends (who were in the same room as me) and I went crazy making fun of him. I know, I can be a bit mean at times, but he was like really weird. He once wore a transparent shirt, like the one Shahrukh wears in k3g in the suraj hua madham song, but the only difference was that he definitely didn’t have the body or the attitude to pull it off with style.

April
The start of summer break. I didn’t go anywhere, just chilled at home, spent a lot of time online. Can’t remember anything in particular, except the start of the Indian Premier League. I’ve never watched cricket with more interest!

May
Results came out, and I got 69% and I was majorly pissed off, because the stupid Gujarat University people definitely didn’t mark properly. I did well in the papers that didn’t go so well and I did really badly in the papers I was SURE I would ace. But, whatever, it motivated me to work harder in final year.

June
Third year of college began on the 16th. I remember the first day when we were handed out the most horrific timetable with lots of lectures and hardly any free time! Got used to it in a couple of weeks though.
Oh yeah, the team I thought would WIN the IPL ended up losing like REALLY badly. You guessed it, I was supporting SRK”s Kolkata Knight Riders. Lol.

July
On the 26th, it was my little cousin’s birthday and I was at her party when the shocking news about the bomb blasts reached us. It was a terrible, despicable thing to happen, and the months that followed were even worse with terror attacks in other places. I pray that 2009 brings peace to the world.

August
Hmm…August meant midterm exams! And then I remember I’d made a lot of plans with friends for midterm break but somehow, everyone fell sick and the plans went down the drain with us left coughing and sneezing and resting at home the whole four days. Or was it five days?

September
Ahh, now that wasn’t so long ago. I went to McDonald’s for lunch with friends because three friends got together and treated the rest of us since their birthdays had just passed. Mmm…McDonald’s…YUM! :D

October
First term exams….Sorry, I’m a bit of a studious kinda person so I tend to remember stuff in terms of exams. Then it was Diwali and a blissful three week vacation, except for that terrible fight with a friend which kind of shook up my whole world!

November
Well, it wasn’t exactly a fight…more of a misunderstanding or something, but it was depressing nonetheless and I cried a lot, because I can’t stand falling out with ANYONE, most definitely not good friends. But then it passed and everything got better and my birthday came along and it was so special and made me smile lots! :)But then there was the horrifying terror attack on Mumbai. R.I.P all those who lost their lives.

December
Hmm, don’t need to exercise my mind at all for this one. The month started on a sad note with my cousin’s grandpa passing away, but I now believe that life and death are up to God and so there should be no prolonged grieving, especially if the deceased was ill or aged.
Just before Christmas, it was time for Culfest, details of which I posted earlier. And then, Christmas break, during which I was supposed to get some studying done but I decided to take a chill pill and laze around. And my new year’s eve was spent writing the first part of this post and chatting to the sole friend who was online and happens to be the same one I had the stupid misunderstanding with in November. Anyways, we wished each other a happy new year online at midnight and then went off to sleep, hoping that on 31st December 2009 we’ll have more exciting plans than hanging out on msn.

Phew, 2008 in a nutshell. I’ve summarized the entire year so much that it seems like hardly anything interesting happened, but that isn’t true. I know I learned a lot of new things, and I don’t mean that in the academic sense, but in the life lessons sense. I learned to forgive and to forget and to cherish every moment lest life come to an end much before you expect. I learned that it’s natural to grow apart from people who were once an important part of your life, because change is unavoidable, and that it’s best to accept their distance and give their place to new people who can grow to become just as special. I learned that love can’t be explained and that it doesn’t change even if the people you love hurt you every now and then. I learned that family is in fact very important even if you don’t always get along with them. Circumstance brought me closer to people who’d always been around but whom I’d never paid attention too. I formed new friendships and tried my best to maintain old ones. I realised that sometimes trying to hold on to people does more harm than good and can even break the relationship forever, so it’s better to let go, no matter how hard it is.
I began to accept the eventuality and finality of death and grew emotionally stronger. Now, every time I think of people I’ve lost, I don’t feel sad that they’re gone, but instead believe that they’re watching over me from somewhere and that, in spirit, they’re always by my side.
2008 made me make up my mind about what to do with my life. I finally know for sure that I want to be a writer. I want to weave magic with words and cast a spell on people all over just like so many authors have done on me ever since I began reading. I gained more insight about myself, realized that I have a right to be whoever I want to be, live my life the way I see fit, but that I have to be careful not to hurt my parents, because no matter what happens, I think they’re the most important people in my life. I learned not to judge myself on standards set by others, to be confident about myself and what I like and don’t like. I grew more opinionated, developed more individuality and more surety.

All in all, even though nothing life-altering happened in the past year, it’s been a year of good times and bad, trials and achievements, dreams and aspirations, hopes and prayers. It’s left me with memories to cherish and lots to reflect upon. I’ve grown as a person and also in the literal sense in terms of years. I’m 21 now, an adult in every way, except that I still live with my parents and don’t earn my own money. I still have to live according to the guidelines they set, but I’m mature enough to accept it and patiently wait till the day I can fully handle the reigns of my own life. That day doesn’t seem far now. I graduate from college in June, provided that all goes well and I pass the exams. That’s one thing that 2009 stands for – the end of the much-valued ‘college days’ – the so called ‘best days of one’s life’. I don’t know what life holds for me after that (who knows, right?) and that’s a slightly scary prospect, but exciting too. Here’s to a new year, a new beginning. May 2009 bring peace to the world. May it fill our lives with happiness and success and move us closer to fulfilling our dreams and doing all that we want to do. Happy New Year and God Bless.