A rollercoaster 2020

 While 2020 has been an eventful year for almost every person on this globe, and I am thankful for me and my family to be alive,  unscarred by Covid at the end of the year, this year has been a roller coaster ride.

😔 In Jan, travelled to parents' place at hometown unplanned a day before my daughter's eighth birthday, the first she would celebrate there after her first one. In the evening, my 90+ grandfather had a head injury and I spent the night at hospital.

😔 In Feb, on the day of Sivarathri (Shivratri), I woke up with the phone call bringing the news of expiry of my grandmother - attended her funeral at hometown.

😐 In the March weekend of Janata Curfew and the lockdown, I was supposed to travel to my hometown for my grandma's rituals, only held up due to WFH preparations and chaos on Friday night at my office. Thanks to that, I was not locked down at hometown, now in a different state thanks to bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, away from my family in Hyderabad. Three of my father's brothers didn't have that luck - stuck for 3 months at my hometown.

😀 In the middle of Covid chaos, thanks to the unexpected time and rest gifted, I decided to make a career move and attended a series of interviews over a month for a small company - my first trail to shift organization after 16 years of honeymoon with my first company!

😐 Not sure how many would have braved to shift from a 250,000 big ship to a 700 boat in the current pandemic situation! 

😀 Only time will tell whether choosing the new company is a wise decision, at least, leaving the previous employer is a non-regrettable one on seeing my first full month salary credited to my bank account today.

😔 Woke up on my birthday this December with the call from my wife about the demise of my mother-in-law, took the car to highway only to realize it's the day of National Strike of farmers, evaded rallies at three junctions by requesting, only to be stuck at the fourth road-blockade on a bridge for 1.5 hours - Stuck alone in car in a roadblock (Rasta roko) on a National Highway without breakfast and lunch - the most unforgettable birthday. The worst part was not able to catch the funeral at right time.

😔 In September, for the first time in Covid, ventured with family out of town to visit a close family member's home. A person there caught the virus few days after we returned, causing tension for few days about his well-being, but finally relieved when he recovered safely. 

😐 In total, attended 3 weddings and 1 funeral, visited beach, a famous temple, with young kids post-Covid. Missed another wedding and a funeral of a close one during peak Covid times.

 😐Considering I would enter into 40s this December, I aimed at a weight loss of 6 kilos at the start of this year. Covid break again helped me in trying out yoga, all kinds of diets (tried GM, intermittent fasting, even Mantena's all raw vegetables diet) - reached the target of -6 at one point, but as of today, the delta is -1.5kg. I would take this, as not gaining weight while  staying at home for 9 months itself is an achievement. Check the graph.

😀 Thanks to WFH for 9 months (~180-200 working days), no need of driving ~140KM per day to/fro office means I saved a minimum 1600L of fuel and related emissions to the Earth; 27,000KM mileage and depreciation for my car - also conserving my time and my body as well.

😀 Started writing extensively in Telugu on a social media forum - posted 100+ answers for 100+ K views.

Thanks for reading till the end. Wish you all a happy new year 2021.

Controlling emotions

Right from the day he entered the international cricket, I never liked Dhoni, the cricketer – primarily due to his below par wicket keeping and lately due to the hype and his attempts to hog limelight ignoring the likes of Sachin and Dravid.

Whoever reads this may have a first thought to kill/bash me or rate me a cynic or fool or something else, but I openly supported WI and England in the last two matches and the moment India lost, I was celebrating causing irritation to my roomie and my neighbors.

However, I have to salute the way Dhoni handled the post-match conversation – controlling emotions and speaking with a smile. I like Dhoni the person, as seen on TV during matches and interviews - there are some qualities I would like to learn from him, the above scenario being the one – "Talking without showing any trace of actual state of mind in face or tone".

Kudos to Dhoni.

If interested, please visit my previous posts on emotions.

The Emotional Dilemma

The world is full of emotions. No person can be an exception to it. Generally, the state of being ‘emotional’ is considered only in negative contexts - when the person bursts into tears easily, when in deep sorrow, when highly or ill-tempered. On some rare occasions, a person who is extremely happy may also be termed as an in ‘high emotions’.

But, for me sadness and happiness don’t complete the set of emotions. An emotion is a feeling we express at a particular instant – it can be love, hatred, joy, pity, passion. It is something that comes naturally, may not be controllable.

Do we need to control our emotions?

The answer depends on the situation.

When I see –

- The never ending sagas on the bulletin boards/blogs/hate communities – North Indian vs. South Indian, Sachin vs Sourav vs Dravid vs Others, Localites vs Non-locals

- A car/bike rider honking on my back in a traffic jam showing his/her (even female riders do) restlessness (this is also an emotion) though he/she knows I can’t move mine even an inch ahead

- A father killing his son, a son killing his family,

- During Shaan’s concert in my company, girls, even oblivious of higher officials and other surroundings, became too emotional and tried to outwit one another to have just a hand touch with their demi-god and similar things,
I laugh myself.

Of course, I am not an exception to emotions -
I become tense when watching close cricket matches,
When somebody constantly nags me or irritates me with his/her behavior.

I don’t control my positive emotions and release them so that I can share them with my dear ones.

I like to control my negative emotions and emit them when I am alone. Sometimes, I share them with my dearest of dear if I think I am not transferring them.

If people can control their negative emotions, the world will be relived from at least half of its problems.