………..a potpourri of scams, scandals, political mayhem, historic verdicts, natural calamities, inflation and a lot more, a concoction which the electronic and print media served in abundance with our morning cup of tea!
Andhra Pradesh was no exception either, with its fair share of all these and a little more. The denizens of Hyderabad saw it bleed; leaving behind scars that only time can heal. Be it the Telangana movement, student and farmer suicides – the former supporting the movement and the later owing to crop destruction and rising debts, of the metro rail project or road widening, demolition or restoration of heritage monuments, lack of civic amenities, so on and so forth. To add fuel to fire and to satiate their hunger for power, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats utilized these issues to their fullest by calling for bandhs, dharnas, rastarokos, fast unto deaths, throwing normal life completely out of gear.
Home turf was very encouraging and many a time challenging. There were moments of sheer joy and pride. Prakash being designated as the National Sales Manager, with many others vying for the post was one such occasion. The news of his transfer to Mumbai was a rude shock and was taken with a pinch of salt! His moving to Mumbai left me alone to tackle the daily rigmaroles and the tantrums of two teenaged sons’. Devastating at times! His transfer also saw words like ‘other important priorities’ that never existed in the family dictionary till then, creeping in, often coming to his and my rescue as a means of consolation on birthdays, our wedding anniversary and a few functions that I attended alone. Rohit and Rahul, who will turn 17 soon, overcame their first hurdle by excelling in the CBSE class X board examination held this March. Rohit with 9.6 points (on a scale of 10) opted for the engineering stream and Rahul with 8.2 points for medicine. This was just the beginning of a series of competitive exams which will eventually shape their career and future. They began junior college in June and while dropping them off at Sri Chaitanya Junior Kalasala on college opening day, I fondly recollected their first day to school. Barely two and half feet then, they walked between Prakash and me, clinging to our fingers with teddy bear bags slung on their backs and little baskets with colourful lunch boxes and water sippers in one hand gleefully climbing the steps of Silver Bells Nursery on East Street, Pune. Today, standing six feet and a few inches tall, they had to crouch to hug me and peck me on my cheek, before waving their goodbyes and walking into the building! Moments of pride, indeed!
A year with a curb on socializing, outings, holidaying and entertaining, not total though, since we did host a few friends and family from Mumbai, Pune, Kerala even France and Sharjah. A week long get-away to Mumbai, Panvel and Pune was the only break we took as a family. The drive from Panvel to Pune on the expressway was fun, but nothing like the drive on the Hyderabad – Bangalore – Coimbatore route that we took last year!
Work wise everything tick-tacked in clock-wise precision! Thanks to all the foresight and planning and everyone working as a team to achieve our goals! We moved into our own premises this April – a beautiful well planned building, where I have a space of my own. I played a vital role in organizing an international conference ‘Cortona-India 2010’ held in Hyderabad this November. It was an opportunity to meet and interact with quite a few interesting people from across the globe.
An increase in the frequency of aches and pains, creaking knees, depleting eyesight, diminishing memory, a few strands of grey hair and some wrinkles to stay, were sure signs of my joining the bandwagon of the middle-aged, given that the life-span of an average Indian is benchmarked at 70! Not to forget to mention of the few pounds that I am sure to have added to my genetic inheritance! This is the best I can portray myself at 41, a fact difficult to come to terms with , the reasons for which could either be my heart not wanting to accept it or memory erosion! Our class reunion, held in August, not only brought a few of our classmates together; it also ignited my writing skills, in the form of an essay that I managed to pen. I am yet uncertain whether to call it a skill, as it is still in its nascent stages. The likes of Chetan Bhagat, Taslima Nasreen, Amitav Ghosh, Khushwant Singh, Kiran Desai helped maintain a safe distance from loneliness and boredom.
I am also grateful to Mark Zuckerberg and his friends, the genius behind the social networking website - Facebook! This site has been a platform to stay connected with my extended family, make new acquaintances, reconnect with classmates, school friends, ex-colleagues, an ex-boss and a teacher who taught me in junior college! Facebook was also the catalyst to our class reunion.
Another year, another dawn, new resolutions - to make, keep or break.
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