Before you begin reading this, I do this post every year to assess my life each year (last year’s post is here). Because without writing this or taking an account of what happened in the passing year, I wouldn’t be able to count the blessings I have or the lessons learned. This is purely of personal nature and might not interest you. Now that I warned you, you may stay or leave. 🙂
Like 2009, it was a very happening year in 2010 as well. There were many pleasant and unpleasant moments. And I have learned a bit to let go the unpleasant ones (though it is not easy). But I would remember this year the most because it gave me the happiest moment of my life to date – when my son was born.
Alright, good things first. I got engaged on January 16th and got married on 31st. I became a father on 22nd of November, the same date I met my wife for the first time in 2009. 🙂 My son’s birth is the happiest event in my life so far. In February, my first music video was released on Internet. Iniyethra Naal was a song I composed. Another song, Manju Pole Oru Swapnam, that I composed and sung, is all set to broadcast on TV channels and the news got published in Kerala Kaumudi. Blogswara kept on going and the 6th album was released on March 1st. In June, I was interviewed by The Hindu Metro Plus, Kochi, about Blogswara. My cover of Picha Vacha Naal Muthal has crossed 10,000 online plays (it now stays at 12,000 and 3877 mp3 downloads in total).
Blogging has diminished but not dead yet. 🙂 I still feel this is one amazing medium that I can always use to express myself. And it is a pleasure when I meet people and they say “I have read Jocalling” or “I know you through your blog“. Expressing thoughts with an individual signature of the personal space cannot be this easy with any other tools available in Internet – be it Facebook, Twitter or any other social media.
In the new year, I am going to spend some of the free time for myself and my music. I have not sung much this year as the personal and family responsibilities mounted up. I think it would only increase this year but I will prioritize better. Though I have not posted many karaoke songs in the blog, my mobile is full of rough tunes that I recorded each time I get a new tune. 🙂 Sometime in the near future, and God knows when, it will hopefully turn out to be an individual music album which is my biggest musical dream.
One good thing happened last year is that I have restarted the old habit of reading during the train journeys from Trivandrum to Thrissur. You’re Hired (Nasha Fitter), Known Turf (Annie Zaidi), Super Freakonomics (Steven D Levitt, Stephen J Dubner), Dork (Sidin Vadukut), Roadrunner (Dilip D’Souza), My Friend Sancho (Amit Varma), Checklist Manifesto (Atul Gawande), Padachonte Thirakkadhakal (Sreenivasan), Nine Lives (William Dalrymple), Kerala history and it’s makers (A Sreedhara Menon), Keralavum Swaathanthrya Samaravum (A Sreedhara Menon) are the books I read this year.
Oh, and one thing I missed to mention! It is something I thought would never happen in my life. I got a four wheeler driving license. 🙂 May not seem a big deal to you guys, but for me as a person who doesn’t know how to ride even a bicycle, this is something real big. 🙂
We have lost 4 amazing people last year. Music director M G Radhakrishnan, lyricist Gireesh Puthenchery, singer Swarnalatha and Malayalam poet A Ayyappan. They will be missed…
The new year resolution – something which I wrote last year under the heading “Things which I learned this year” but never really learned – You don’t have to be nice to everyone.
I hope to learn why and how not to be nice to everyone around me. And to stop blindly believing in people. I am beginning to learn how to throw back the thorns which have been thrown at me for no good reason. There are people who backstabbed me and worse, they said it to my face, “hey, I just stabbed you because I had to”. And they get away with it. Not anymore. If it’s a war you want, it’s a war you get! 🙂 We have a strange world around us who think being nice is a sign of weakness and being arrogant is a sign of leadership. And I cannot afford to step aside.
I hope 2011 will make me a more confident man who believes in himself.
Wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. May this new year help you become better people, have lots of fun and cheers. Happy New Year!