The year end journal
It is 30th December today. Around this time every year, I like to sit with my laptop and pen down the key events and learnings from the last one year. Last year I wrote how 2019 was the best year of my life. It surely was. What stands out in 2020 is a dominant feeling of gratitude. 2020 taught me the simple pleasures of being alive, of being around our family, of having a stable job that one enjoys doing, and of living each day one day at a time. I am ending this year with life lessons so important. From caring to be healthy to introspecting on what is important; I am grateful that my near and dear ones are all healthy and hearty.
If 2019 was about traveling the world, 2020 was about slowing down. If 2019 brought me closer to my life partner, 2020 gave us time to spend with each other. If 2019 was about reading, 2020 was about writing for me.
I started the year with two back-to-back foreign trips. Towards the end of my first one, I first heard about this virus. And when I got fever on my second trip, I was scared. Being in a foreign land and a possible infection was a dreadful feeling. I managed to come home safe. Over the next few weeks, the world turned completely upside down. Flights were canceled. My mom got stuck in a different city, thankfully our hometown and with family. My uncle and aunty got infected and fought the deadly virus with all their might. When the flights resumed and mom took a flight to come to Bangalore , it was a long quarantine period of 14 days before I got to hug her. There were periods when no house help was available. To keep the house clean, to cook for the family and also manage the work life was fun.
But beyond what was happening in my own life, I saw lives being shattered. People were losing their jobs and means of living. Migrant population was left to fend for themselves and many traveled barefoot for days. Self-respect was thrown out of the window as people grappled with questions of survival. Whatever one did for helping others was just not seeming enough. Few of my close friends also lost their jobs and I saw them going through an emotional turmoil. Despite all the financial stability, not being in a job was a burden for them.
I started penning a journal of the covid days. And soon, I thought of a book. I wanted to talk to business leaders across different industries to understand their perspectives of how they were dealing with the crisis. Like always, the idea found a few supporters and a few detractors. Few people felt the book was ahead of its time. My own mind told me that where would the business leaders find time to give me lengthy interviews. Nevertheless, I decided to move ahead and take one step at a time. It took weeks of cold calling and reaching out to my own network. And then finally someone said yes. And from there on, the journey never stopped before I reached my destination. Inflection Point, my fourth book is ready for a Feb’21 release. And as much excited I am, I am grateful to the universe for making this happen.
On the personal front, I have grown to be a more inwards person, knowing myself better. I have learnt a lot from my husband and we have helped each other grow into a shade better human beings. We are partners in fun as well as in deep introspective conversations. We discovered more of each other and continued to find the balance. The journey to discover continues.
Is there something I am expecting from 2021? Perhaps that the poor are saved any further from the consequences of this pandemic. And everyone is hale and hearty.
My favorite reads of the year: The Journey Home & The Journey Within
