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December 30, 2018

The Year It Was, 2018!

Oh well, an engineer would always say- looking at my year, "What a Sine Wave"!

The year started with a bang. Wedding at home. My Sister-in-law got married in early February but the festivities at home had started early, in January. A few functions at home, big small rituals, sarees, ornaments, arrangements of guests, ordering made easy online and what not. I must say, we Indians obsess over weddings and wedding related responsibilities. I am not sure how this entire show off business turns up into a complex tiring wedding for both families. I had my own struggles but while everything went smoothly, the most memorable part of the wedding was time spent with a cousin and an uncle from US (I mention him as Kaka on this blog). Amidst, the responsibilities - they kept me sane. Hence, Mr.ISB also was sane ;-)

After the wedding, it took more than a month for us to go back to life. To be frank, it took two full months even when we had some refreshing days in between. My health had started giving up a lot in between.

Ah, just after the wedding - I visited my home town to meet parents and my best friend. Did I tell you, she got the baby boy and ahoy, I could spend so many hours with him later on in October with him. I would need a separate post to describe how a kid can be such a good boy! Going back to March, our Kaki visited us from US and needless to say, it was the warmest feeling to have her here.

We also shifted to a bigger office just after the wedding. Needless to say, my initial one month confused the hell out of me in the new environment. Commute become easier but I still miss my daily walk which now has to be forced. Not to forget, sustaining in crazy traffic of Dadar. But, more than that I missed my chai from old office canteen.

To divert my mind from my health which deteriorated a lot in March, thanks to the Cysts which suddenly resurfaced in my ovaries. I started taking the help of my DIY mind. Decoupaging (which was not a success so to speak!), wine bottle painting , canvas paintings. Mr.ISB got really sucked up in the well of office work which was pending due to the wedding at home.

April was the month of change for me. Difficult office projects, the best best Vacation to Italy (Which I never blogged about! God knows why!) , my slowly improving health, a lot of fights with Mr.ISB on nothing, his support during such tantrums I threw because of the frustrating health issues. My professional and emotional health were affected so deeply, that a trip to Italy was a much needed break.

A brilliant early birthday surprise and a birthday post before the vacation kicked off the journey to normalcy from the mayhem.

Now, because I have missed writing about two major trips this year- let me take some time to do the written vomit. Rome, Florence, Sienna, Fiosole, Cinque Terre, Milano and wow, we both were in love with Italy. (May be, I can still post some photos of lovely cafes, decor and beautiful landscape this country has this year, in a post using my notes.) This trip rekindled us back to history, architecture, food,books, movies and the most important part- it rekindled our friendship. We were now normal.

And so we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with a low key dinner. Because, that is our trait and we love that. I wish we could call it friendship anniversary too- ah hell, I can!

Then again after a few challenging projects, came a wedding trip to Calcutta with my entire maternal family. This wedding was different- we were guests!! Yeye! Also, visiting my mom's home town was special as this city is a part of my childhood through my maternal family. I saw twinkles in their eyes in that trip which I never had seen- I am not being poetic here! We enjoyed sarees, dancing, music, food (Sondesh to be precise for me!) and what not. My maternal family is made of crazy and funny souls - there was not a single dull moment when we did not laugh. Some day Calcutta, I will see you again.

This was also a point in my life, where I kept on juggling between office work, stress, art and conveniently started forgetting to blog.

Then came the season of festivals. Sept and October - Navaratri and Diwali. Durga Pujo, Sarees, Chaniya choli, a trip back home to meet best friend and the baby. It was a pretty month and well, a special one too. I had managed to put my health back on the track as well.


The November and early December brought Mr.ISB's annual Scandinavian business pilgrimage for 45 days. 45! Yes, and I had Netflix, my bed, sulking self and health issues to keep me busy. These were also the months when I caught up with my best friends more often because, a best friend shifted to Mumabi (Yey!) and other friends had to visit the town for various reasons. I am happy I did not ditch a single opportunity to meet them.

The year is ending today and I can not complain the amount of stress it came with because, it gave us opportunities to grow personally and also as a couple. The year of 2019 is going to be the roller coaster ride as well, looking at the pace our lives are changing with, but here I am - bracing myself and gearing up for the ride (holding Mr.ISB's hand!)

How was your 2018?