Today is the last day of 2009, and looking back I can’t help but think about what a roller coaster of a year it has been. I can’t help but smile at some of the memories I have of the year, while others are bittersweet – evoking joy and sadness in equal measure. Here is a quick rundown of the year that was:
2009 was the year I graduated in. It was supposed to be a slam dunk of sorts – graduate, get a “different” job from campus, do interesting work and get paid well for it (Come to think of it, I used to do that anyway, just thought I’d get a chance to try different things). Unfortunately, the sub-prime crisis had other plans for us. Campus placements, of the sort that were desired, were difficult to come by and the whole process took much longer than expected. Hunting for a suitable job took up most of the summer and kind of derailed some of my plans for the year. But, hey! I guess that’s life!

2009 was the year in which I thought I’d visit Ladakh or Sikkim (or so I thought). Unfortunately, since I spent most of the summer hunting for a job, I had to scrap the plans. Though on the bright side, I managed to update the design of this blog as well as create a new photo blog (of sorts) using ZenPhoto. I also got a lot of reading done, but more on that later.

2009 was also the year of travel. While I did a fair bit of travel in 2007 and 2008, I managed quite a bit in 2009 as well, in spite of starting late in the year. I managed a trip to Malshej Ghat and a trek to Naneghat with my dad and sis. Later in the year, I discovered the trekking group Nisarga Brahman and some great pals in the group. I trekked to Gorakhgad and Kalavantin Durga with them and ended the year with a nice trip to Bangalore with some of the members of the group.

I loved 2009 for the opportunities that it presented in terms of photography. From the mist covered roads of Malshej to the vibrant colors of Kala Ghoda to the brilliantly lit night time view of the Sea Link to the fabulous carved temples of Halebidu to the steep rock cut steps of Kalavantin, it’s been one enchanting, kaleidoscopic ride, as seen through my lens. And I’ve loved every minute of it. I also began using a DSLR more often (a big thanks to Chirag) and have come to love the flexibility that it provides. I’m hoping to get myself a DSLR in the New Year, so do keep a watch on my photoblog for updates.

2009 was the year of the Reader. E-book readers finally went main stream with record sales of the Kindle. After years of reading books on the PC and following the E-book reader space, I finally bit the bullet and got myself a Sony Reader (PRS-300 or Pocket Edition, a big thanks to Primus for it). And reading just hasn’t been the same J

While I still read good old “dead tree books” once in a while, I’ve come to enjoy the digital experience. Reading on the Reader has been a fabulous experience so far, and I’m excited at the prospects that technology holds for this space in the years to come.

The last three months of the year bought a lot with them. While the year began well with the fabulous Kala Ghodha festival, I really didn’t do much “culturally” until the last the three months or so. I saw a staging of Agatha Christie’s play, “The Mousetrap”, after waiting for it to be staged for a better part of the last decade. I also saw some brilliant performances in “Waiting for Godot”, which I think was the best play I saw this year.

Winter bought classical music concerts to the city. This year’s Arties Festival had me spellbound and Sangat 2009 had me appreciating fine chamber music. Switching to movies, it has been a good year. Some of the movies that I enjoyed this year were “Cloverfield”, “The Third Man”, “Hunting Party”, “In the Loop”, “District 9″ and “Virtuality”. “Moon” and “Inglourious Basterds” were probably the stand out movies of the year for me.

I also managed to play a small role in getting Social Media Club off to a running start. SMC Mumbai is the brain child of Amit Klein, and I’m glad to have played a small role in getting it started. Four meetings later, we are still going strong and the next year promises a lot more activity and knowledge sharing on social media at the meetups.

The end of the year bought some bittersweet moments as well as some opportunities. The stray dog that we kind of adopted, Ruby, (or the dog that adopted us) passed away a few weeks ago. Sometimes, I still catch myself looking at the entrance to my building, half expecting Ruby to be sitting there. Guess I will take a little time to get used to the fact that Ruby won’t be there anymore.

I also got the opportunity to work at one of the firms that I admire greatly. Unfortunately for me, the job wasn’t in line what I’d like to do in the near future, so I had to give it a miss. But nevertheless, it was a great opportunity.

So to sum up, 2009 has been year with ups and downs, but still a good year. Things may not have gone as planned, but in retrospect they haven’t turned out badly either. Here’s hoping that 2010 is even better.