2014 Curtain Call!

 

Last night, I don’t even remember when I had slept off. I had been terribly tired after a movies’ day out with family and friends and could barely keep my eyes open. I was having this dream of the amazing Christmas outing I had this year when suddenly it got broken. When I woke up disoriented, it was the middle of the night and I found myself in the bed, with the same clothes on, albeit with a blanket, someone had cared to pull over me. The clock showed 3:00 a.m. I slapped my hand on my face and muttered an oath. I so hate being an insomniac. Even being mind-numbingly tired, couldn’t help, Good Lord! My mind reeled in the snatches of the dream that I was having and my face invariably broke into a smile. I stretched myself and lit the study table lamp. Might as well make myself comfortable, as sleep is a reticent visitor at my house. While picking up the half-read story book, my hand brushed the calendar. 31st December. Just this day left, for the year 2014 to pack its bags and never come back. That eternal question came into my mind. How did the year pass so quickly?! I wandered off into space, travelling back to the very first month of 2014.
As usual, new year rings in with a host of resolutions, which as the saying goes, are meant to be broken, but then, I believe in keeping the resolutions, most of which I have been able to keep, as well. So, no regrets there. I had went on to make my entry in Twitter, which ultimately became one of the biggest element in changing my Life. In many ways more than I had imagined anyone or anything could ever.
Some of the resolutions that I had taken, as far as my memory goes, included regular jogging, reading lots and lots of books and the new thing that was included this passing year was more social networking. In Twitter, which apparently was new for me. I had got to know about this community called the TSBC (The Sunday Book Club) from the daily newspaper The Telegraph and being the bookworm I was, I was undoubtedly attracted to it and thought it the best way to start in Twitter. I straightway joined in the discussions, made some real good friends with mutual love for books in the past few months and had it not been for TSBC, Twitter wouldn’t actually have happened to me. So, thank you TSBC for giving me a new lease of life in Twitter.
Cutting back to March, my birth month. By this time, one Twitter follower had accidentally come across me through TSBC, who also happened to be a fellow Calcuttan. He also happened to be the person who took me to my first Tweetup, that too on my birthday itself, resulting in meeting up with some more Twitter friends. If not for anything else, I’ll be forever grateful to him for introducing me to these and some more people.
Incidentally, it was through him that I followed another girl, who happened to be very sweet and also a part of a group, which I literally bumped into. Bumps are usually bad, but this bump, I guess, would go down as one of the happiest bumps I had in my life! This group was pretty large, with already 9 people in it and with me gatecrashing into the party, took it to 10. We hit off instantly, subsequently resulting in the creation of a Watsapp group and that journey goes on still now and hopefully for years to come. This group again revolutionized my life.
From initial misunderstandings to clearing of them, the journey was one hell of a roller coaster ride. We shared our joys and sorrows together. I personally was involved in a one-on-one bitchy fight with a girl of my age of the group. We fought like cats and dogs and I still wonder whether that day had actually happened when we had offered olive branch to each other, which paved the way to a brilliant friendship. So much so, I actually was offering her tips and choosing her shoes for a date she had, recently, which would have been unthinkable, even a few months back. Life does have its share of surprises!
Till now, this group have had 4-5 meetups and touch-wood, this group has been going strong, with its own share of quarrels and misunderstandings. There has been little we haven’t shared with each other and individually as well.
One wonderful thing that I’m thankful to God for, is getting a guy best friend by my side, from again, this very group. I have had just one best friend till now, who has shifted to another state and doesn’t even know me that well now. Yeah, I’m extremely choosy, when it comes to making best friends. However, after him, I now know the perks of having a guy best friend and needless to say, I’m very eager to hold on to him for the rest of my life. He and I have gone through many phases and despite the many lows we have had, there have also been the highs which I shall always cherish and also the very reason why I wont leave him and ensure the vice-versa. That doofus is sure gonna have to suit himself to me.
I have had a bit of taste of that overrated Love element as well. However, my notion regarding Love remains the same. Despite the fact that I call myself a hopeless romantic, actual love remains overrated and fictional to me. My mantra be like, “No Love for me, please!”. As a recent song goes, Love is actually ‘a waste of time’ for me, but unlike the very next line, I actually don’t want to waste my time, simply because I don’t get the time now!!
I also became friends with two men, who have went on to become the two pillars on whom I could take support, whenever I am in need of it. Given the fact that they are single-minded in refusing to being delegated to the status of being brothers to me, so they are the best-est friends that I could have had. Both are mutual book lovers and while I’m close to one for being just a mutual book lover (he is actually a literary maverick and makes me wonder sometimes how the heck did I land up with him!), I’m heavily dependent on the other one emotionally. So, obviously I’m very possessive about the two of them, which though leaves them in splits, but yeah, that’s how it is.
Taking a break from all these online forays, a lot happened in my ‘offline’ or real life as well. The initial first months saw me in this great phase of confidence brimming in me, after a successful outing at the Kolkata Literary Meet, which had hosted some of the greatest authors, writers et al. This was followed by completing an internship with CRY (Child Relief and You), being in the job of analyzing the health data statistics of the entire North-East area of CRY. Makes me also humbled to say that I was the only intern who had been selected for that job. I was lucky to have observed in person, how an NGO actually works and that, it is not a piece of cake for anybody out there to have mere fun. It gave me an experience of working in an office too, which was exciting for me, to say the least, at least for now! I made some great friends there as well, all of whom live outside, yet are still in contact. The very reason why the goodbye had been very difficult for me. It makes me feel joyous to see my hard work get its reward when my name gets published in the reports that I made there. I’m also a bit proud to say that I finally get to call myself a Spanish beginner, having completed the Communicative Level at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, the only institution to offer official Spanish training in India, apart from a similar one in New Delhi. Yet more great friends there as well. I dated with the French language too, but mostly we share a long distance relationship and don’t get to share much time! Completing the beginner level of swimming also made the love for waters grow in me and made me realize how much I loved diving.
Around this very time, most probably around May or June, I happened to open my blog, the very blog in which you’re currently reading this blog post. Though I used to write from high school itself, but didn’t really get much time to open a blog. Hence, a late starter. This blog has seen quite a ride as well. From publishing the first prose to first poem, to getting positive reviews, some downright kind and touchy, this blog has given me its share of joys. The year 2014 got very beautifully rounded up with being awarded the Notable Newbie Award by #BlogAdda, one of the leading blogging communities of India. Honestly and frankly speaking, it still doesn’t sink in, that my blog, which is mainly categorized as Personal, did get such an award. Needless to say, I’m happy and thankful of BlogAdda for choosing me and giving me great inspiration to write more.
Sometimes, things happen which you never thought could happen. Likewise, I loved poems from a very early age, but could never call myself a poet, because I couldn’t simply write them. I was known more for being a prose writer rather than a poet in my friends’ circle. But now that everyone calls me a poet more than a prose writer, it makes me feel touched and amazed that how the heck did that happen?! The fact that I’m dallying with Haiku, one of the most challenging forms of verse and Hindi verses as well, makes me sit back, look up and ask the guy up there, what’s cooking in your mind, mate!
Anyone can write a story but writing a story in less than 99 words, giving a new lease of life to a particular frame, trying to get a space in among, what I consider, some of the greatest writers I ever encountered, is what I consider one of the biggest challenges. Which One Frame Stories happened to give me. Trust me when I say, my stories don’t even have a para which is less than 99 words and that my ultimate high-school English tuition teacher would actually faint in surprise and joy on seeing me achieve that feat! Not to forget the fact that I myself can’t believe I’m actually able to do that. God has been kind in getting the only two stories I’ve written, published in there. Here’s hoping I continue challenging myself more and getting the returns I’ve been receiving. Oh! Another news and subsequent feeling to be shared. Given the fact that my student happened to land up a gold medal in Science Olympiad, it was taking me all not to throw up my hands and scream in joy, along-with the student herself, because after all, I’m her teacher and well, that would unbecoming of a teacher to do so!
So, in all, Life has been very kind with me this 2014. Though I wouldn’t ask a repeat of this year in 2015 or even more, however tempting it might be, I would just like all of the people above mentioned and the readers to stay with me. With all of your support, I’m sure I’ll be able to override any obstacles that comes in my life. Thank you, people. Happy New Year. Have a great year ahead!