Concluding 2014

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come whispering, ‘It will be happier’

- Alfred Lord Tennyson

2014 has been a mixed bag. Apart from a few spikes and general inconveniences, this year wasn’t particularly good or bad. I didn’t achieve anything significant, the work wasn’t really inspiring, the trainings nearly came to a standstill and my personal interests more or less took a backseat in wake of Riddhie’s schooling, Mom’s accident and wife’s new job(s), but then it could have been far more worse and I guess if nothing else, this is ample enough to be thankful about.

I will not necessarily dissect 2014 into quarters like I did for last year and the one before. There isn’t much to write about anyway. The year began with a lot of social engagements, meeting friends and partying. I kept taking my camera out at irregular intervals. There was turmoil at workplace and I had to take some tough decisions. I still don’t know if I chose the right path.

There were weddings in the family and some celebration which provided the distraction at perhaps the right time. I met an old friend again and spent some good times rediscovering the days gone by during the summer of 2014. Along the line, I made some nice, short blog posts. Though the blog still doesn’t attract many readers, I am actually proud of a few posts I made during this year.

I played around with my look, kept a moustache for a large part of the year However, my best pictures from 2014 are the ones I have with Riddhie. This year brought significant changes in her. She has been picking up new games, learning new ways and has begun to counter question and throw tantrums and in the process has been drifting away, trying to find her own space. Her school activities kept her engrossed and she was happy participating and even winning a few competitions. I guess this is one aspect I have and will always be thankful about.

Mom’s freak accident and her surgery and the household issues and running about consumed up most of the last quarter. The writing slowed down a bit but then a visa trip to Chennai happened and though it remains one place I wouldn’t want to visit again, the trip was interesting just for the experience it was.

The last few months of the year were perhaps more grey and disturbing on more than one front. The world in general seems to be heading towards a conundrum of not knowing which God to choose. People are barbaric towards other human beings and willing to sacrifice everything for what they believe will appease their creator. Be it the rise of ISIS, hate crimes, bomb blasts or shameful incidents closer to home where even little children were not safe being left alone at school, my thought process got numb on more than one occasion. Most of these things do not make sense to me. I just hope that someday wiser sense will prevail.

Perhaps I wanted to end the year on a positive note and hence took some time off from the office, cooled my heels, picked up my camera again and did a photowalk at Delhi Haat and then roped in Riddhie for a few clicks on a sunny winter afternoon.

Summing up the report card for 2014, this is how it looks like:

Socializing Jaipur Trip Food at Chennai Blog posts Riddhie’s activities at school	Office Issues Riddhie’s blog stalled Mom’s accident and surgery No trainings Income Tax issues Car woes Weight gain again

I am looking upon 2015 with better energy and positivity for a change and can foresee a few things lined up already. I guess the next few weeks will be hectic. There is an upcoming wedding and some travel planned in early part of the year and hopefully things will brighten up on work front as well, but then there is much a slip…I guess time and the next few posts should be able to tell.