The Final Countdown

2008 comes to an end in another 30 days.Im exactly 26 yrs 5 months 1 week today. Talking of timespans - I hit the pause and felt as if life moved in the fast-forward mode this year, everything blurred as if one travelled in a very fast bullet train. How did the year fare for me? Should be clearer, in the rear view mirror. Rewind. Play in slow motion. Thats how it went -

Caution: Long Post Ahead!

January: New Year, New Resolutions and Personal New Beginnings. January was on a high note. High on enthusiasm, fresh and invigorating from one of the most memorable trip out of delhi. 5 people, 1 Car, 5000kms, 5 days, n number of cities covered on the roadtrip. Perfect Beginning to set the tempo for the rest of the year.

February: Still on the upper side of the wave. Travelling in the air. This time it was with family to the emerald isles in the Indian Ocean/Bay of Bengal. The pristine white sands and the clear tranquil waters of the beaches of Andamans is far from the maddening crowd of Delhi. February was quite significant, two of my bucket list items covered here - snorkelling under the coral reefs and visiting a white sand, blue water beaches and islands.

March: After a spending a bomb on the trip, it was back to being money concious. Plutus ruled the month. The month of money matters, Income tax savings, Proofs, Form 16's and what not. Shelling out a lakh for savings was although not difficult, but it spelled out - Tighten the purse strings for the rest of the year.

April: The month of socializing. Birthdays, Weddings, Engagements, Baby Announcements. Dad's Bday, S's Bday, M's Marriage, B's Engagement, S's wedding and so much more. On my toes, was the sport.

May: A not so good month. Part of it went into being insecure about my job. Found myself constantly fretting about my job, since my firm issued pink slips to about 300 people randomly. The other part went into organising and planning the college camping trip to tehri. My first Adventure Activity Trip where i did rapelling, river crossing et al.

June: My Birthday Month. :D Turned 26 on 24th. As always freinds and family hoped it was my last spinster bday. Doing pretty good for my age but worried about where i was going in and which way life is headed. Mid-Year. Mid-Life Crisis looms.

July: Studies and Leaves and Exams were the flavors of the month. The 6th sem exams spanned the whole month. The final dissertation, the minor projects, notes was all i lay my hands on. The last leg of the weekend MBA. Made all the efforts like the last slog overs in a one day match, to better my CGPA.

August: A new Project in the Investment Banking domain. Probably one of the very few good things that came my way in my entire career. Along with challenges came responsibilties. Was in the thick of soup briefly trying to create a niche for myself in the number crunching population at the new workplace.

September: Murphy's law was wanting to be proved. Just when i stepped into the Fin World, the industry went for a lunch break. The May-mayhem was back again. Firms shutting down, layoffs happening. The insecurity was coming back in bits - professionally and personally. I was fighting with self, and conflicts around me. Song of the Month - Wake me up, when september ends.

October: Just a routine month. Lots of going out, festivals, celebrations. A good month,id say. No news is good news, right.

November: Work, Work and Work was the only highlight this month. Working long hours, working on weekends. Its good to be workaholic for a month in any given year, specially around appraisals ;)

December: Wait and Watch. Well no, sitting on the sidelines. Il make sure the year ends well too, just on the note it started. The baton should be at a high when passed on to 2009.

The balance sheet shows green. Overall, with a few rough patches here and there, its been a good year. And good is good enough for me. :)

Bi-Bi 2008.