Well, who wants to keep 2020 in their memories? 😐 Definitely, not me. This was the most unexpected, challenging and dark year for all of us. Still, we were in a much better position than those people who lost their lives, their jobs, and those who had to strive hard to make a living due to the lockdown post this pandemic. So our own miseries are nothing compared to those people who were not so fortunate like us. But having said that, this year was not even close to what we may have planned or imagined, when we were busy celebrating 2020 new year eve. And the harsh fact is that we may like it or hate it, but we can't erase this year from either our memory or from the calendar.
As 2020 is at the verge of end and we are entering into 2021 with conditions still not in control, with the rumours of third wave of Corona hitting Europe and a new form of this virus found in Britain, there does not seem to be any hope of things returning back to normal at least for next 3-4 months. But when there is darkness and gloom all over, even a single ray of light is all we need to find a way out of the dark. And for me, the ray of light is the memories and moments from the past which give me a reason to smile. In this blog, I would like to rewind my memory and recall a few incidents or moments which may not classify to be 'memories', but it's all I need to smile and sail through these dark 'uncharted waters'. So I am going to close my eyes, introspect and just do a small recap of 2020 (in chronological order) 🙂
The year started with a bang, with a few birthday parties with friends in the first two months, exploring a few new cuisines and restaurants in Gurgaon and of course planning for our future trips😂 (without having the slightest idea what the future had in place).
Some pics from Jan-Feb 2020:
At one of the B'day parties- (It was one of the last outings with my office friends)
One casual dinner night at Harish Bakery-
I visited my hometown for 3-4 days in early March on the occasion of Holi. By that time, there were a few initial cases of Corona in India also but no one had anticipated the gravity of the situation at that time. Anyways, I returned back to Gurgaon after Holi and by that time, we were getting some guidelines from the company that offices may close for some time and work from home would continue for next few days. And the same happened. It had been hardly one week going to office after coming back when we got the notice that WFH would be there till 31st March. Everyone seemed to be happy and excited thinking about it. And then came the announcement of 'Janta-Curfew' on 22/23 March followed by 14 days lockdown. And then the rest is history.
I was lucky that I was at least at my relative's place when the lockdown was announced and not in my PG. Me along with my sister and Bua-ji, (who had come for a week's visit to Delhi but she was stuck there due to all the transportation services being shut down during the lockdown) had to spent more than three months there. But there was an emotional support also for me since that was like an almost home. After the working hours, we used to go for a walk in the park of our society in the evening, to relax and to break the monotony of similar routine every day. There were a few bright moments in that otherwise dull period which I would like to share 🙂
Celebrating Didi's B'day (17 April 2020)
Trying my hands in pizza making
Home made pizza 😋
I did not want to share this pic but still sharing. Please don't laugh! 😁 This was the effect of lockdown-
Finally I came to my hometown Gorakhpur in the first week of July. Initially it felt so good to be at home but later as the days passed, life turned out to be dull and monotonous and is still the same. But still I have tried to keep myself calm and composed and found ways to deal with these tough times to some extent. When there was a complete cut off from our social life, video calls and online meetups turned out to be blessing in disguise. One such event was the Online World Quora Meetup which was held across the globe virtually, in the month of August.
From the Online World Quora Meetup
I also got time to read quite a few books this year. Just checked the stats on https://www.goodreads.com/book. (If you are a book lover like me, this is a very good website for keeping a track of the books you have read, including the dates. You could write reviews of the books you have read and many more such things)
These are the 8 books I have read in 2020-
From this list, I would like to recommend two books to anyone who is interested in reading novels-
1- You Are The Best Wife by Ajay K Pandey: If you are tired of reading clichéd cheesy romantic novels, you could not have a better option than this. A highly underrated book which is full of emotions and it's based on the real life story of the author himself. Ajay and his wife were college sweethearts who got finally married to each other after a lot of obstacles. When everything seemed sorted and going well, destiny showed its cruel side and Bhavna (his wife) got diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately she lost the battle against death after being in coma for few days. While the first half of the novel is full of sweet and innocent romance, the second half gets too heavy to read it till the end. The rawness and purity of emotions which the writer had poured out makes this novel an outstanding one, despite of the fact that he is not a professional author and this was his debut novel.
2- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch: This one is of sci-fi genre and is one of the best sci-fi I have read so far. This novel explores the hypothetical concept of multiple dimensions of the universe and how it could have affected our lives if we could also achieve superposition of states similar to the quantum particles. This book completely blows your mind and the fast pace of the story keeps you hooked till the end.
Meanwhile I also went to Gurgaon finally to pick up the rest of my belongings from there (Knowing that going back to normal does not seem likely for the next 4-6 months).
This pic just in front of my PG before saying final goodbye-
Another casual pic when we were tired after playing badminton 😄 (Me with my brother)-
Yeah, this was all about it, glimpses of 2020 for me. 🙂 So, what was your own most memorable moment from this year? Do write it in the comments. Let's hope that 2021 turns out to be more fruitful and prosperous for each one of us. On that note, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! 😊
