Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Hell it's been just too long since I wrote anything here! This blog is supposed to be my learning blo(g)ck. I'll keep it simple. There have been a lot of things I learnt in the last month and half, that is since the time I turned 24. There's stuff. About parents, work, friends and of course myself. Pointers should be fine?

 

1. 1. Perseverance is the ONLY key to a lasting relationship. There will be times when you have to not only let go of your ego, but also your self-respect. You have to stop standing up for yourself and in fact may be stoop low. OK this low here is subjective. Experience (other people's) tells me when you are really in love, that 'stooping low' does not feel like you are actually stooping low. And when your friends are telling you that you've been a complete loser whereas you do not think so, then you know you are in love. The real love.

 

Ok, I am saying all this as if I learnt it myself! Haha! But I know what it takes. Thanks to all my friends now settling down steady.

 

2. 2. The thanking of friends brings me to point 2. Every one goes. No one stays. And that's to be accepted both soon enough and with sufficient grace to not look and feel like a loner loser. Friends are there for you, no doubt - but only for special occasions - happy and sad. Forget calling up your friends randomly at 2 and saying let's go the railway station and have chai. No one appreciates it.

 

3. 3. Parents grow old - again, accept it. Sooner the better. And also make sure you never let them realize they are growing old. Do not over protect. Let them be by themselves as if they are still 38. But keep a bloody close watch. They need love and need to know their kids won't 'move on.' They are indeed old when you are 24 with an older sibling.

 

4. 4. If you and your childhood sweetheart still adore each other, then bloody hell go ahead and be together. Don't wait to find the right someone and don't keep this sweetheart as a back up option. You know why? One of you will never take any relationship/affair seriously thinking there is that ultimate backup. Only to realize the ultimate backup does not need you. And you will regret missing the train.

 

5. 5. Don't over counsel your friends. You don't know what will they conclude. Don't worry they don’t hate you if you do. Nothing changes. But still, don't over counsel. You might end up looking like an idiot.

 

6. 6. Procrastination is the easiest thing in the world. It is sad that something I never knew before, is all I know now - and that's procrastination. Oh btw, you should go on a vacation at the slightest chance you get. You never know when life will cripple you into permanency.

 

7. 7. 'Business manager' is a word that I understand better than the word 'bed.' Courtesy my boss. You can be a business man by sheer ideas, BUT you can run a business only if you are a business manager. And yes, business management is a tact that can be polished and put into perspective in a B-school, but cannot be taught. You either have it or you don't. Period. But yes, if making graphs and drawing inferences is all your definition of running a business, then … then only God can help you. Or maybe your auditor.

 

8. 8. There is a whole bunch of things about ethics, governance, leadership, ideation, implementation, analysis etc that I have learnt. But I am sure no one wants to read a management book here. So we'll chuck it.

 

In a nutshell, my friends have moved on damn rapidly (and I think I am stranded but as I said in pt. 2, I am maintaining my decorum) my parents are starting to grow old (and are in denial - which suits me, in a way) and I worked with a screwed up business manager. 

In an hour and half, will be the same ol' routine. I will fake being asleep. They'll come to my room with a cake and a candle. I will pretend looking sleepy and excited at the same time. Then, I'll pose for the camera and get sick photographs clicked. 

I will get a few calls - sister, a friend or 2 - some expected and some not. I will also NOT get a few very expected calls. I will then go to sleep wishing if only I din't have to wake up early to go to the temple, I could have done a late night movie. Sigh!

Nothing changes on this day - except that the entire routine changes, phone buzzes a little more than it otherwise does and people force you to believe that you are little more grown up - whether you like it or not - and so you gotta fix your life. (Though none of them have done it yet for themselves!)

And to make it worse, first time in 6 years, there is no alcohol on this day. 

Sigh...yet another birthday. 

Ten things I will do in my 24th year.

There are 2 things here - I will turn 24 in a few days and so I thought I will come up with 10 things I want to do this year. There might be things here which seem too personal to appear in a blog, but I want to take accepting myself to the next level - accepting and being comfortable about it. So, I will shed the mask while I write on my blog and will talk about myself and my realities more openly.

 

1. Read a lot more  - The last 6 months of 2008 were quite bad in terms of reading. I did not read as many books as I had aimed to or usually did in the same span of time earlier. I read a lot even now, but I read a lot of stuff online - blogs, articles etc. I value learning in all forms and am not discriminating hard copies to soft copies but I am still an ardent fan of physical books. I want to get back to that.

 

2. Apportion my time wisely between online and offline activities - I am somehow becoming a wire-addict in an unhealthy way - facebooking and reading random blogs. I need to stay online for Point no. 10 but I need to apportion time well so that my point no. 5 and no. 8 do not get a beating. This will mean a lot of time management. Scared already!

 

3. I will not get hooked to people in a frenzy. I have accepted that I get attached very easily and illogically. Letting go does not come easy to me and so this year I won't let such a situation arise where I have to let go painfully.  No trial and error this time on. For me, the 'Sex and the city' life is best appreciated on TV and is not to be practiced. I SUCK at being so carefree.

 

4. I will crave lesser to be at a different place - When I was home, I wanted to be in Pune, when I was in Pune, I wanted to be in Hyd, when I was in Hyd, I wanted to be home and now that I am home, I want to be in Pune or Hyd! It is so weird - I ALWAYS want to be somewhere else! Yes, I am quite a nomad but this is just too much fluctuation. When I had a social circle I wanted to run away from civilization and now that I don't have any, I want to party every night! I will now be happy and content to be where I am and will tell this to myself more often.

 

5. MBA - I will honestly prepare for the GMAT. Not half heartedly and not for the world. But whole heartedly and for myself. It might take 6 months instead of 3, but it will happen this time.

 

6. Open a Recurring Deposit account - Even if it is for 2k bucks - I'll open one.

 

7. I badly want to get skinny! Yeah, I have never been reed thin and I so wanna see how I look if I lose my cheeks and have a chiseled face! It is a very far fetched thing to want, considering I stay with family these days and they won't let me starve.  I don't think only exercise can do that. Can it? Also, my physique is such that skinny is probably only imagination!

 

8. Get better at running/jogging - I was never too bad with running on the treadmill or even on the footpath for that matter. But I was never too great either and I somehow always wanted to ace this one thing. I think I am gonna run more often this year and see that I run more number of minutes at a row than what I do right now.

 

9. Talk less - My need to talk and tell stuff is just so much. I need to keep telling my loved ones what's going on. I am also painfully elaborate. I am sure people lose track midway through my posts. I am gonna try talking lesser about stuff sporadically and will try to put my point across in as few words as possible.

Trust me, I have NO clue how I will ever do this!

 

10. Polish a few subjects - Geo-Politics and World Economy to start with. (Then move on to other stuff.) I hate being lost when I watch BBC or when I read certain authors. 

Why this new blog?

I realized that I have learnt a lot at age 24 and there is a lot more that I have not.

There are good habits lost and bad habits retained.

There are friends made and friends lost.

There are things I want to do as I grow older, anxieties that I want to get rid of and habits that I want to inculcate or bring back.

 

I think having all this on the other blog will spoil the flow of randomness on it. So this is my attempt to put my life into words, and use it as a tool for introspection and as a check-list.

 

To start with, these are the things you will see in the next few days -

 

10 things I want to do in the 24th year of my life.

23 things I have learnt about myself in the last 23 years.

23 things I have learnt about the world in the last 23 years.