MEMORIES OF 2021

Whooa!! Another year passed away so quickly. I was just reading my previous blog (about memories of 2020) today and I realized it's time to write another blog when 2022 is just round the corners. Certainly 2021 was special from a global and historical point of view with the world continuing its fight with the ongoing pandemic through the global vaccination drive, Tokyo Olympics being held finally amidst the cloud of uncertainty, some crucial reforms being made in the Indian politics like the introduction of farmers law, the ongoing protest that followed and finally the law being withdrawn due to the criticism and backlash it faced. While keeping all the buzz and noise aside for a moment, this year was special for me also personally. Although some of the days were challenging emotionally, but I feel 2021 went smoother for me as compared to 2020. So going as per the title of the blog and as I see this year in retrospective, I would like to share a brief insight about how this year went for me.

The year started with a bang on when I got an offer letter from Infosys on 1st Jan. At that time, I was in TCS and I had given quite a few interviews in the last quarter of 2020 for different companies. Now if you follow me on Quora and read my answers there, you must be knowing why I was so desperate to make a switch. Anyways, the first day of the new year itself brought that joy and happiness which I was searching for. So I was ready to welcome 2021 now with open arms and was looking forward to the entire year.

Fast forward to 25th March, it was my last day in TCS. Leaving your first company is always emotional and overwhelming, no matter how good or bad your experience has been there, and same was the case with me. But I was primarily looking forward to the 15 days gap that I got before joining Gartner. (I had an offer letter from Gartner also and my joining date in Gartner was 12th April) The festival of Holi was also round the corners so I instantly made plans to go to visit my relatives place in Allahabad. And that was a refreshing break that was really needed. The one week trip was fun and fulfilling for me, while the stage was being set for the Covid to wreak its havoc in the coming days. However, I returned home safely just few days before the second wave of pandemic started in India. Some of the glimpses of that Allahabad trip-

Flight to Allahabad ->

Rang Barse ......

Me with my Mausi and cousin brother ->

The 'Work From Home' continued from my new company also and the second quarter was challenging for all of us with almost every household being affected by Covid and bad news floating all over. Amidst all this, I had completed the first draft of my book which I was writing since Dec 2019. After finalizing the publisher, I sent all the details to them and for next one month, I was also involved with reviewing the edits and final drafts which were ultimately going to take the shape of a paperback version.

In last month of June, also got a chance to attend the World Quora Meetup 2021 held virtually.

Finally the day came when my book 'Delusional Horror' was officially released on Amazon, Flipkart and a few other online book stores. That's a different feeling altogether when you hold your own book in your hands for the first time and inspite of being a writer, I can not describe that feeling here in words. This was one of the factors that made 2021 memorable for me.

By the way, if you have not read the book yet, go to Amazon and purchase it now. The paperback version is available at 50% discount and there is no better way to end the year than reading a horror book. 😀

Finally I came to Gurgaon in September end and it was endearing to meet with friends after such a long gap. The times had changed, the world had turned upside down in these one and a half years but we had the same equation and vibes and that was what I had been missing the most. 

In the long weekend of Dussehra, we (four of us friends) went on a trip to Rishikesh. I had written a separate blog on this Rishikesh trip and you can check that out. The 3 day trip was quick and filled with fun and excitement. We did river rafting and it was one thing that was on my bucket list since a long time. 

River Rafting ->

Recently, also got a chance to meet my office colleagues for the first time face to face, during a buffet lunch organized at Pirates of Grill in Gurgaon. 

I had decided to celebrate new year in Mcleodganj and we had done all the bookings for our four day trip to Himachal from 31 Dec - 4th Jan. But unfortunately, we had to cancel it due to the increasing risk of Omicron variant in the country and the curfews and restrictions being imposed in various states. So no plans now for New Year. The most I will do is just order a pizza and coke and enjoy it all alone by myself on 31st night. 🙁

When I see this year in hindsight, I feel there could be many things that I might have done better. There were some things done right and some things didn't really go the way as I had planned. But that's the part and parcel of life after all. Just as 2021 is about to end, I would like to thank everyone who supported me in any way, directly or indirectly. At the same time, I would also like to apologize if I had hurt anyone intentionally or unintentionally. As I retrospect on some thoughts that have been lately occupying my mind, I would wish everyone a Happy New Year 2022. To all those who are reading this blog, wishing you a very happy and prosperous upcoming year filled with lots of love and happiness.

Trip To Rishikesh

The last 1.5 years had been very frustrating for me and for most of us due to the havoc caused by the pandemic which had made our lives monotonous and it seemed as if the whole world had been slowed down by an invisible force. But as they say, there is a ray of light always at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark the tunnel is. Thankfully, things are coming back on track now with the fast pace of vaccination all over the world and specially in India. Travel and tourism has resumed, at least within India and I was looking forward to a break to relax and rejuvenate my mind. The long weekend of Dussehra came as a blessing in disguise when one of my friends suggested that we should make the most of this weekend and go on a road trip.

Two more friends came on board and instant plans were made to visit Rishikesh in the 3 day long weekend. As one of our friends in our group had his own car, we were pretty much sorted with our road trip. Rafting was the main excitement of our trip and it was the only thing I was looking forward to. Initially, I thought to book hotel rooms like OYO for our 2 night stay in Rishikesh. Just before 4-5 days of our trip, someone suggested me that we should confirm whether rafting is going on in this season because of the monsoons, and even if it's there, we should do the bookings in advance. This seemed to be a sensible advice and I started searching randomly on the internet if I could get any details about rafting and its prebooking.

I found the contact number of a tour operator and contacted him. This again turned out to be a blessing in disguise as he not only confirmed that rafting would be absolutely possible, but also informed that his company provides a package which includes camping, food and rafting as well (all inclusive in the package). Till now, we hadn't given a thought about camping but this idea excited me. I knew camping would be more fun as I had already experienced it in Munnar in Kerala and it was a moment-to-be-cherished kind of experience. So finally we booked the package which was 3400 per head (this included accommodation and food for 2 day stay in camps, rafting as well as car parking).

On 15th October, we started our road trip at 6.00 AM in the morning. The road trips are always fun when you are with your friends and this trip was no exception. The long distance was covered before we realized and we were finally in Rishikesh at about 3.00 PM in the afternoon. It took us some time to drive to our Shiv Ganga Nature Camp. The camps were comfortable and the view from there was amazing, with a swimming pool just beside our camp. 

After having lunch, we put our chairs outside and enjoyed the scenic vibes of that place. I couldn't have wished for something better and we just sat there, chilling and relaxing. After some time, we went for a walk nearby where we saw the mountain ranges from more proximity. There was not much scope of going anywhere since it was getting dark and driving back to our camp at night would have been riskier at such a place. So we came back to our camp and what I observed simply blew my mind. The place looked even more mesmerizing with decorative lights, live music being played and amazing vibes. We enjoyed the lively evening with snacks, good food and even better music. I can now say with conviction that even if you simply do camping and nothing else, you will enjoy in a way that you could not even think of, if you haven't done it before.

The next morning, we got up early, freshened up and got ready to go for the adventure which we all were looking forward to - river rafting. Before coming here, I had watched several videos of rafting on YouTube and it seemed more scary than fun. But what is the meaning of life if we don't experience thrills and adventure sometimes. We reached the location and waited patiently for 2 hours before we were ready to onboard our boats. The guide gave us all the necessary instructions and ensured us that every safety precaution was being taken. Still, my nervousness increased as the countdown started. The guide gave us life jackets and helmet, and the oars for rowing the boat. Everyone occupied their positions and started rowing as per the instructions of our guide. It was fun initially before the guide told us that there would be three rapids coming where the flow of the water would be so strong that the boat can even turn upside down. (Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence). For a moment, I thought why I had decided to do rafting in the first place. But it was too late to think about it. I heard the voice of our guide instructing us to row the boat as quickly as possible since we were approaching the rapids. 

In those turbulent waves, our boat started shaking violently while I held the rope in between as I felt the boat is going to turn anytime soon. But thankfully, nothing like that happened and we passed the first two rapids in succession. The third rapid was the most thrilling with the cold waves splashing across our face continuously. Our guide also took a few photos and videos meanwhile with his Go Pro camera attached on his helmet. The enthusiasm was at the peak when we crossed all the three rapids and that adrenaline rush I felt was something which I had been missing since a long time. Finally the 12 km stretch was covered in almost one hour and we reached the shore. We collected the photos and videos from the guide and paid him for that. Since we were all drenched in water, we decided to go back to our camps and change our clothes.

After having lunch at the camp, we got ready and proceeded towards our next destination that was 'Shri Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir'. The path to the destination was very beautiful with lush greenary on both sides of the road and the mountain ranges visible at a far distance. We reached the Neelkanth Mandir at about 5.00 in the evening. This mandir is dedicated to 'Nilkanth' (an aspect of Lord Shiva). The temple architecture is very much influenced by the Dravidian style of temple architecture and I felt a divine presence in that place. After spending about one hour there, we proceeded back to our camps since it was already getting dark. This night was no different than the previous one with DJ, party vibes and decorative lights all over the place in our camps. (You can see us dancing to the tunes of music in the video below 😄)

We finally went to sleep after having our dinner as we had to leave this place early morning the following day. At midnight, the weather became turbulent and it started raining heavily and the temperature dropped a bit. Luckily we were given cosy blankets by our camps so we slept comfortably amidst this turbulent weather.

The next morning, we started our journey back to Delhi from Rishikesh and the return trip was even more amazing due to the pleasant weather. We stopped at Laxman Jhula in our way and spent some time there. Basically, it's a 450-ft long iron suspension bridge constructed over the Ganga river. As per Hindu mythology, this bridge was originally built by Lakshman while he crossed the river on jute ropes. Later in 1923, this was reconstructed and made stronger by iron rods. The bridge is always packed with tourists, with people taking selfies amidst the mesmerizing background. We had to make our way to reach the other side. The pleasant weather and wind blowing added more calm to the soothing atmosphere.

After visiting Laxman Jhoola and spending some time there, we left Rishikesh with lots of sweet memories. After one or two halts for having lunch and snacks, we finally reached Gurgaon at about 7.00 in the evening. I said goodbye to my friends and came back to my room. 

This was a much needed break to rejuvenate our mind and soul and it brought a relief to the otherwise hectic schedule of our day-to-day life. This journey came to an end but I brought back lots of good memories and enriching experiences. It is these little moments of joy which add meaning to our lives after all. 😊

Do let me know in the comments section if you liked reading this blog. Till we meet next time, keep reading, keep travelling and keep enjoying life.....