Kick start of the year
January 2024
Ever since as a kid, one of the childhood memories many of us have is to make resolutions for the new year. To promise oneself an activity or a milestone that you were unable to achieve last year or something new to tick off from your bucket list full of curiosities. We used to buy diaries and create new schedules and lists only to leave them unattended until the next year. But this year I decided to go beyond my comfort level and add new skills and try new things. Last year at this time, I had started Veda chanting and learnt, and practised the art of sound healing from the Auroville sound garden team. Ok, I know that sounds old and spiritualistic to you but trust me it’s all about finding peace and solitude in whatever you do. We had an expert chanter in the society who started small sessions to teach and chant together, that was fun. The power of these rhymes has been scientifically proven. This year, I have taken a new challenge of reading 52 books which means 4 -5 books per month.
It was midnight, we were at the boundary of 2023 and 2024. People bursting crackers everywhere, and we (my family) were running around to see the best view from our rooftop. I started my first 10k marathon of this year with Freshworks, It kicked off from the Napier bridge and I was amazed to see the enthusiastic people even on wheelchairs. It boosted the confidence of everyone and they all completed it successfully. I took around 88 minutes in between there were shorter breaks for toilet, water, and snacks. That indeed felt like an accomplishment. At the end of completion, “Congratulations on completing 10 Km, while running this time, I managed to develop a rhythmic pattern on a count of every 100 - 10 with my fingers and varied my speed accordingly.
The day before Pongal (the festival that is celebrated across the country with different names), there was a pop night at IIT Madras. We got an exciting chance to watch Farhan performing live at the Saarang Fest. Thanks to our friends, who arranged a hassle-free experience for us even with a kid. Yes, our son attended his second open concert (last year had Sundihi Chouhan), enjoyed it for some time and slept in the loud music. It was very mesmerising watching live my favourite Rock On Songs and Zindagi na milegi dobara poetries. Later next weekend, we had a RECAL NITT alumni run around a fantastic river trail, the event was fantastic. My father also participated there in a 5k run and earned his first medal in his entire life.
Just before the 75th Republic Day celebration, I received an invitation for a keynote session at SIAT Expo. I delivered my 30-minute talk after having a brief session with the chairperson. There were more than 50 attendees inside the lecture hall, that was motivating in itself. It started with a briefing on why sound quality is important for motorcycle industries. I presented on signal processing fundamentals and realized it could have been better if we made a better visual interactive presentation. Overall experience was very good the way they treated and honoured me made me feel special. Had a nice time attending the event with ex-MSIL / Hasetri colleagues. On the last day of the conference, along with 2 other friends we went to the Bhimashankar Mandir (also known as Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga). It is a Shiva temple situated in Bhimashankar village, in the Pune district of Maharashtra. It is a key pilgrimage centre and one of the 12 Jyotirlinga in the world The temple's Shiva lingam is one of the three Jyotirlinga of Maharashtra. Since we had started early at 4 AM from Pimpri, it was a free entry and very nice darshan. We had fresh spicy poha and tea near the temple after puja. Back home from Defence Airport Pune was a pain due to Republic Day preparations.
After coming back, I went for a Bollywood movie Fighter and trust me it was worth watching at midnight on the 26th. Filled with joy, pride and actions, Vande Matram's song got stuck in my head. I had played that song the whole day while driving to a lit fest organized by The Hindu. I was attending my first Lit Fest and was curious to see book signings by the authors themselves. We bought 2 books at the event by Kanan Gill and Cyrus Broacha, in person, we were able to meet these guys and click photos. Just to summarize my challenge taken at the beginning of this year, yes I have already finished 3.5 books (Energize Your Mind, Same as Ever, The Wisdom Bridge and Becoming a Mountain(0.5)). It's a very nice start to this year and with God's grace, I was able to accomplish several goals.