A New Year is Here...

We are finally approaching the end of the year 2010. I am trying to review the passing by year and the feeling is unexplainable! The year 2010 rolled by like a roller coaster ride for me and coming to think of it, I have actually enjoyed every moment of it. No regret whatsoever. In the beginning of the departing year I remember tweeting, “No New Year resolution for me this time. This way, I will NOT feel guilty for not sticking to it” and I am so happy to be able to stick to my words.

I took the year as it came and lived every moment of it with full honesty and dedication. The year 2010 was mostly marked by travels, people and events. I had great fun in the form of trips abroad, trips to many Indian cities and beaches, celebrations of many kinds and my brother’s marriage to a sweet girl, all made 2010 worth every moment. The most satisfying milestone however was organising of the cultural event Bohagi Bidai where I was completely involved from the beginning to the end and in that process met many people and made many friends.
Celebrations give you happiness and let you savour these moments for life. On the other hand, you get wiser with bad experiences. I experienced that too. It was extremely difficult to accept certain changes, but I coped with that phase and got wiser by learning from that experience as well. The year 2010 was a journey of self discovery for me. I have discovered a new me and I didn’t know that this me existed at all. This me is wiser, patient, tolerant and extremely loving. I discovered to what extent I can go for something/someone I really believe in/love. I stretched myself to the limit and I know in this process I have enriched myself as a person.
In the year 2010, I experienced friendship at another level, I realised to what extent I can go and can stretch myself to accommodate people, events and work. I took the risk of breaking the invisible wall around me that I had built to keep myself safe from people. I chucked fear and that’s a great feeling! I used to feel extremely lonely when we first came to Kolkata. It has changed now. I have mentioned about it in one of my previous blogs, how the law of attraction has changed my life. Now I am a complete peoples’ person. I have so many friends that the entire world feels like home. I feel safe. :)

Now that 2011 is approaching, I am going to stick to my “No Resolution” theory so that I can experience life and the year as it presents itself to me. Of course I have my visions, set goals and my to dos ready for myself. But I don’t resolve to do or stick to something just because I made the resolution. I want to embrace every single day of the coming year with full enthusiasm and an open mind. I am so looking forward to this.
Today is 25th December, I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

The City of Joy

Looking through a Typical Calcutta or Kolkata Cab

In some ways, Kolkata is a nice place to live. Some say, it is a Metropolitan city with a low cost of living. It is true in some ways, especially when, you are one of the public. There are places where you get cheap ‘everything’. So, if you go there by a public bus, walk the required distance from the bus stand to the market, bargain, buy and come back by bus; yes, it will cost you less than any other way of doing the same. Well, but for me, this has not been the case. Reason being, I do not know most of the places, the bus routes and things like that. Hence I take a cab (actually, I am having to) and travel, which is not so economical. Moreover, the heat and humidity keeps me away from the public buses all the time. Being a coastal city, Kolkata is generally warm, hot and humid during most of the year.

The Only City in India with Trams

The time when we came to Kolkata, it was monsoon. I have never seen monsoon in this fashion. I discovered that the rain just pours down without even a hint of its coming. It made me run to the balcony several times during those days, to collect the dried clothes. However, I enjoyed monsoon in Kolkata. Actually I just loved it.
Then it was time for winter to set in. But, to my surprise, it felt as if winter is never going to happen in here. When Christmas came by, I thanked God as the city cooled down considerably. I have joined work by this time and was shuttling everyday to Salt Lake, one of the most confusingly organized areas of the city, at least for me, till now. Well, I just know the area of my office and the famous City Centre mall. Other than that, if you leave me in any other part of Salt Lake, I would prefer to get myself airlifted rather than finding my way out all by myself.
I know this is too early for me to sum up and make assumptions about this place. I am still in the process of knowing the city. So, I am positive that very soon my discomforts will vanish and I would sail smoothly in the city just like any other Kolkatans here. Then, I will be back here to talk about all my wonderful experiences in this city of joy.