As the winds whistle outside my window in Chennai (there's a cyclone brewing here), I realise it's only fitting that I end this year back home. After all, it was this time last year that I was preparing for my arrival in Dilli. I was not sure what to expect, but I knew for certain this transition was going to kick my ass just a little. And snap, the year is over, and I'm left wondering where it all went.
I looked out of the car window today- onto the roads that I've travelled over my childhood and the shopfronts that are different every time, and I thought about how unfamiliar it all seems now. It strikes me how much my life over the past couple of years has changed so much at the end of each and every year, and how constant that change has been. In fact, it's strange to be sitting down and thinking that in 2012, I'll be going back to a city that I've lived in for a year, to a place and a job that are familiar. And I have to admit, that's a bit comforting.
I would be lying if I were to say that I am sad to see 2011 go. It's been a year that's stretched me physically, mentally, emotionally, ideologically, and I heave a sigh of relief as it comes to a close. It was a year for me that signified survival. And yes, one could argue that isn't that life, but this year, life was amplified. Or maybe it's just that I'm growing up.
And as a part of this process, every new year, I am surrounded with talk about resolutions and starting afresh. What strikes me is how definitively the new year is used as an excuse- a moment in time- that has the potential to provide a new start. To erase what happened before and chart out some exciting and different path. Whose to say things should be different in the new year? And whose to say things should stay the same? After all, I am in control of how I interpret time, and I say, bring it on 2012. Bring on the madness and the mayhem. I know for sure that there is alot in store.
And so Dilli, I return to your throes a few days from today. I'm taking you on again. And yes, it's been hard and we aren't really the best of friends just yet, but let's try and get along better this time. See you next year. Take Two.
I looked out of the car window today- onto the roads that I've travelled over my childhood and the shopfronts that are different every time, and I thought about how unfamiliar it all seems now. It strikes me how much my life over the past couple of years has changed so much at the end of each and every year, and how constant that change has been. In fact, it's strange to be sitting down and thinking that in 2012, I'll be going back to a city that I've lived in for a year, to a place and a job that are familiar. And I have to admit, that's a bit comforting.
I would be lying if I were to say that I am sad to see 2011 go. It's been a year that's stretched me physically, mentally, emotionally, ideologically, and I heave a sigh of relief as it comes to a close. It was a year for me that signified survival. And yes, one could argue that isn't that life, but this year, life was amplified. Or maybe it's just that I'm growing up.
And as a part of this process, every new year, I am surrounded with talk about resolutions and starting afresh. What strikes me is how definitively the new year is used as an excuse- a moment in time- that has the potential to provide a new start. To erase what happened before and chart out some exciting and different path. Whose to say things should be different in the new year? And whose to say things should stay the same? After all, I am in control of how I interpret time, and I say, bring it on 2012. Bring on the madness and the mayhem. I know for sure that there is alot in store.
And so Dilli, I return to your throes a few days from today. I'm taking you on again. And yes, it's been hard and we aren't really the best of friends just yet, but let's try and get along better this time. See you next year. Take Two.
