Annual report - 2020

I know, I know.

It's damn weird. 

Half of 2021 has passed and I am doing my annual report post 6 months late. BUT, given that I have not posted anything in a WHOLE YEAR, I think this is okay. I gotta catch up, in the immortal words of Guru Randhawa ft. Pitbull, "slowly slowly slowly slowly". 

I'd be lying if I said I just woke up and decided to start blogging again. I was administered a gentle but firm kick in the ass by some old-time bewdas of the bar (thank you, guys... and girl!). 

So 2020 had actually started with a bang. A friend of ours was getting married in Bali in January! Never in my weirdest dreams would I have imagined that that would be the first and last flight I'd be taking that year (and perhaps the following year). To think that I was having second thoughts about whether or not to make Xena miss two days of school to go attend the wedding. Sheesh. It was a beautiful wedding and lots of fun was had by all. When we returned to Singapore, things were still fine.  

And then BOOM. Covid-19. As we all know, pretty much the entire 2020 was wasted on Covid. In fact, I was very tempted to write just 'Covid-19' as my annual report post. But then, things did happen, you know. Life did go on. 

We learnt to work from home effectively and efficiently. We got used to Teams and Zoom and not seeing our friends and colleagues. Viv and I had designated 'office spaces'. Initially we sat next to each other at our desks, and in the beginning it was quite fun to have a "co-worker" who did something so very different from you. We would take chai and lunch breaks together. But within the first few days, we realised that with the incessant calls that both of us have, sitting next to each other was not an option. I moved my workspace to the dining room, and we would only see each other for lunch and chai (if we were lucky). But soon, the breaks dissolved into the work and the calls and I realised that even with the commute we save when working from home, we end up working so much more because there is simply no 'end time'. There is no 'pack up and go home'. I am still struggling to have a life 'outside of work', which is infinitely harder because there is not much of a literal 'outside' to go to. 

Home-based learning was also very challenging in the beginning because not only did we have to arrange for Xena to have a screen for her classes, we also had to be available as tech support all the time. Homework had to be scanned and uploaded, Zoom details had to be received and entered, and assistance rendered in other aspects such as tying her hair up before her PE classes (also on Zoom) and giving her screen-free productive things to do after school hours. Trying to get all that done with 3874289 work calls in a day was tough. 

In the evenings, we still tried to do something fun together. On good days, we would take her out to the field to play cricket once in a while, but when things would get scary again, we would switch to indoor cricket, using a yoga mat as a pitch. Our workouts had also moved to indoor ones, and sometimes Xena would join us. 

Online grocery shopping, which I had never been a fan of, became the norm. On the flip side, I found some very interesting items thanks to the search function of the grocery shopping apps. The most prominent discovery has been Ruffles jalapeño ranch chips. Seriously, where was it all my life? I was doing a harmless search for jalapeños to make pizza (it's a Friday night staple in our house, and before you scream "SO UNHEALTHY!", let me tell you that I make the pizza base with 50% atta and 50% bread flour so that I can feel 1% better about it), when I came across this magical food item.  

Have you tried it? If not, WHY NOT?

This became such an integral part of my grocery orders that my app would actually prompt me that I "might be running low" on it. 

I kid you not. This actually happened. 

So now I am trying to control the consumption but it's been very very hard. You will know when you taste it. So I have upped my exercise so I can feel 2% better about it. 

So the year pretty much went by like this. Towards the end of the year, it had really sunk in what they meant by "we just have to learn to live with the virus". Before that, it felt like something that would go away, you know, like SARS did. It came, it disrupted, it went. But this was different. Even with the promise of the vaccine on the horizon, everyone could feel that something had shifted. We would never "go back to normal". Everyone was talking about "the new normal" and the new normal didn't sound like fun at all. We couldn't travel, we couldn't meet family. And there was no end date to it. There still isn't. 

And then the guilt would hit. How dare we whine and complain when there were so many in unbelievably worse situations? People dying, not getting oxygen cylinders or hospital beds. People losing their loved ones, their livelihoods. Many of my favourite restaurants didn't survive the pandemic and had to shut down. It was heartbreaking to think of the employees of such places. 

Things were so depressing around December that it didn't seem even worth it to get the Christmas tree out, which we do every year. It was only when she asked me, "Mama, why don't we have the Christmas tree out this year?" that I asked myself, "Why not, huh?" So for the sake of the kid, I dragged the tree out of storage and set it up. Viv, Xena and I made origami animals and decorated it. I have to say it did bring a bit of cheer to our house. 

Our origami Christmas tree

As and when restrictions lifted, we started going out a little more, learning to live with the masks and the regulations. The beach, which is literally 10 minutes away from us, called out to us. And we answered. 

It had been ages since I had put on my skates. It was exhilarating. Viv would run, Xena would bike and I would skate. I called it 'the family triathlon'. 

So that was how our 2020 went. Dominated by a tiny invisible thing, and forcing us to rethink how and why we do what we do. Forcing us to introspect and not take anything for granted. Nudging us to be grateful for so many things — for having jobs that survived the virus, for all the travel that we had done all over the world before the pandemic hit, for having a competent government, and for being in one of the safest places one could be in at the moment. 

Never had the realisation of our own privilege hit us squarely across our faces like this. 

Annual report - 2018

2018 - what a year! Here are some key highlights.

- Since Xena started primary school in 2018, all three of us had to be up really early in the morning. 6 am to be precise. (Ouch. I know.) Luckily, the khadoos mommy that I am, had made it a rule that in 2017, we would wake up at 6:30 in preparation for 2018, and honestly, it made waking up at 6 am a lot easier for all of us. I wake up a little earlier, in fact, to cook and pack the two snack boxes for Xena's school, and I've found great pleasure in making all sorts of things for her snackbox -- broccoli patties, atta pancakes, pizza-dosa, wholemeal sandwiches, etc. etc. I baked a whole lot in 2018, with a keen focus on wholemeal stuff. After many unsuccessful attempts, I finally found a wholemeal bread recipe that works for me, and now it's a staple in our home.

- The biggest personal highlight for me in 2018 has to be my inline skating lessons. It literally felt like a rebirth (and still does, with the exception of my old knee injury that keeps coming back). Under the tutelage of my amazing instructors, I am now somewhere between levels 4 and 5. If my knee allows, I hope to pass level 5 and get the coveted black certificate, which not a lot of skaters manage to get. Lately, my instructors have started teaching me more complex slalom moves. Here's one of my favourites.

You're supposed to do it with cones placed on the ground, but I didn't have any so I, um, imagined them.

Our instructors organised an 8.4-km long urban skate-a-thon. Can you spot Xena behind me? The photo was taken by Viv who decided to run alongside us, doubling as the official photographer of the event. 

- 2018 was also the year when Viv broke into the kitchen. Like, seriously. Because of my skating classes on Saturday and Sunday mornings, he decided to take on the task of making breakfast on weekends so Xena and I could focus on getting ourselves and our skating gear (that weighs approximately 897893246793264 kg) ready. It has been both an amusing and touching experience to see him attempt to make new things. We always had very clear roles when it came to food, and they had nothing to do with gender -- I like to cook and he likes to eat. Simple. So to have this system reversed was kind of funny, but a welcome change nevertheless. He's now pretty good at making omelettes, poha and uttapams, and I'm looking forward to newer items in 2019.

- 2018 marked our 20th year in Singapore! I still have very clear memories of landing on this sunny island in July 1998 as a clueless teenager. To mark the occasion, I organised a 'back to school' event for our university friends. We had all landed in Singapore at the same time to pursue the somewhat-loved but much-loathed engineering course. So we spent the whole morning walking all around Nanyang Technological University, telling the not-so-interested kids, how cool we (and the other uncles and aunties) were two decades ago. We even posed against the same backdrops that featured in our old photos. It was fun. For us, at least.

-  We did a fair bit of travelling this year. Early in the year, I travelled to India for my cousin's wedding (my first flight without Xena!). It was weird and nice at the same time. I more than made up for leaving her behind by taking her on a reward/incentive cruise that one of my publishers sent me on -- and they offered to pay for her ticket too! This time, we left Viv behind. Poor guy was absolutely miserable by himself. We need to do a cruise together at some point. In June, we went to Gold Coast, which is now my favourite Aussie holiday destination. In December, we did our big family reunion, which has become a tradition over the last few years. Us, parents, in-laws, all in one place. The first year, we did Mauritius, last year it was Sri Lanka and this year we decided to check Kerala off our bucket list. I'll be writing about it soon on my travel blog.

So that was my 2018. How was yours? 

Annual report - 2014

Wish you a very happy new year, bewdas!

Yesterday, we hosted a small new year's gathering at our house where a bunch of us recapped the year and shared our resolutions for the new year. One of my friends reminded me that I still haven't written my usual annual report post for the year, so here it is. But before that, I need to hunt down Bubblegum and Arun, two of the regulars at the bar. They had posted their resolutions for 2014 in the comments section of this post of mine, and I need to ask them how they did.

My resolution for 2014 had been a super generic (and 'safe', one might add) one - to strive to be a little better than I was in 2013. In every sense. I'm really glad to report that for the most part it did happen. Of course, I have to start with Xena. We were definitely less stressed about her in 2014, as she fell sick less and was mostly able to keep her blood oxygen levels in the normal range even when sick. Of course, we had one frantic run to the hospital, that too just before her birthday, but compared to the gazillion trips in the previous year, this was nothing. 2014 was also the year her weight touched the elusive double-digit milestone of 10 kg at the grand age of three, when most babies achieve this before they can even walk. She did go back to 9+ pretty quickly after that, and has again inched her way up, but still stands at the magic number of 10 kg. Her eating has been a lot better, though she still rejects 99.9% of all foods, and we still need to put her in her high chair with a book and feed her all her meals, and even milk. But generally, it has been a good year for her. *touchwood*

Work has been fantastic. Thanks to the deep faith shown in me by ex-bosses and ex-colleagues, I got some really interesting projects. I had been writing and editing mostly primary level science books for about a decade now, but 2014 gave me the opportunity to delve into a bit of fiction (kiddy-level, of course), and also a bit of Mathematics for overseas markets. Both were kind of challenging, but beautifully fulfilling and enriching.

2014 was a year when I worked hard and partied hard. Truly. Compared to previous years, I organised/hosted more parties. First, there was Easter, then Diwali (I got to wear a sariiiiii! YEAYYYYY!), then Halloween, then Christmas and New Year's Eve. I got to organise lots and lots of games at these parties. I also had a chance to attend a friend's baby shower, where they had some fun games -- design and wear a diaper using toilet paper, pictionary of baby-related phrases and make a play-doh model of a baby. It was refreshing for me to not be the organiser of the games, and my super competitive streak (I can actually be a little scary in that aspect) took over. I won the first two, and was the runner-up in the third --only because the winner violated the game rules and added to their model a sperm and an egg with a plus sign in between! Hmmph. (Yes, I may be very Phoebe for the most part of it, but put me in a game and I can be SO Monica.)

2014 was also the year when I ticked two important items off my travel bucket list - a trip to Paris and taking my parents to Bali. The latter was very very important to me, and I cannot be any more thankful for the fact that we did the trip and made it back safe and sound.

We also got to spend a lot of time with family. My sister-in-law, who used to live on the other end of the island, moved closer - literally 5 minutes from us. We have been playing badminton! Viv's second cousin, who lives here, got married and his wife is a total sweetheart. So we have all been hanging out together as a big happy family. My parents visited after 3 years, and my mom-in-law visited too. (Yes Appa, we missed you. Please come see your monkey granddaughter this year.)

Viv and I watched a LOT of English movies at home in 2014. First, the nearby library has a lot of movies that I can rent for free. Then, there's a DVD rental place within walking distance of our place. We have also been renting a lot of movies on iTunes. Xena is still off TV, so we put her to sleep (her bedtime is about 9 pm) and then sit down and watch our movies.

Three of our closest sets of friends had their first babies in 2014, and even though all three live in different parts of the world, it is so awesome and so exciting for us. It's like Xena suddenly had three siblings!

It was a good year for Viv too. He did a lot of Insanity. At 6 am no less, justifying the title of the workout. Om Shaun T, Shaun T, Shaun T Om. He also scored 144 runs in a division 1 cricket match. He was the opener and last man out, and we were very very proud of him. I know he is very appreciative of the fact that he can be out for cricket during weekends, but sometimes I just wish he played only 20-20 and wasn't away for the whole day. Just then, such instances happen and they renew my support for him and his love for playing.

So that's what happened in 2014. As for the 2015 resolutions, I'll try to be a little less generic this year.

- We're planning some major renovation this year, and though it's going to be a real pain and a lot of work (think hacking of walls, floors and wardrobes, getting rid of furniture, moving stuff into storage, finding temporary accommodation), but at the end of it, we hope to have the nicest house that we possibly can within our means.

- I need to continue experimenting in the kitchen to create high-calorie stuff that Xena will be less reluctant to eat. Her endocrinologist said that if she can hit 11.5 kg by her 4th birthday, we'll have a stronger reason not to go for the daily growth hormone injections. Of course, I don't see her putting on 1.5 kg over the next 3 months, but I'll do the best I can.)

- Viv and I plan to continue what we have been doing all along - keeping Xena away from TV, phone and ipad screens and letting her have real interactions with real people. This needs to be on the resolutions every year, because it is a little hard to implement with all the screens that people of all ages seem to be bent over everywhere we go. So far so good though.

- Exercising is another thing that is perennially on my resolutions list, because again, it takes effort. In 2014, I didn't go to the gym as much, but we hit the swimming pool more times than we had ever done in any of the previous years (mainly because of Xena's love for the pool, of course), and I enjoyed it. I need to learn how to do it properly though. (I swim with my head above the water at all times!)

- I'll take on more challenging and interesting work this year. At the same time, I'll try and not go overboard with work, and not burn all of my weekends on it. I'll try my hardest to make some time for intentional vella-panthi, something I've never really indulged in, but something that I have begun to think is really important.

- If all goes well, 2015 might be the year when Xena finally visits India. We ourselves have not been there for the last five years!

- I plan to work more on my spoken Chinese. At the moment, I'm probably still qualified only for the beginner's level, so I won't be taking the intermediate classes, but I'll try and refresh what I learnt last year using online tutorials.

- I'd like to pick up a new skill, something creative and fun. And going by my recent inclinations, it seems to be nail art. Will do a post on that as soon as I reach pro levels!

- And lastly, I'd like to plan and be part of more get-togethers, plan more outings for Xena, keep in touch with family and meet up with friends more often. The airline tragedies this year have hit us all real hard, and underscored the fragility of life. Anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Cliched as it may sound, we need to live every moment.

Annual report - 2013

After a hiatus spanning two years, the bar's annual report post is back.

• 2013 was the year when Xena turned two. Fortunately, we didn't experience the terrible twos at all, which makes me very very suspicious. Hopefully 2014 will not usher in an era of the terrible threes.
• 2013 was the year when Xena started preschool. And living up to the precedence set by her nerdy mommy, she loved it from day one. Hopefully 2014 will see her more at school and less in the hospital.
• 2013 was the year when all I posted on the blog were Xena posts and more Xena posts. Hopefully 2014 will change that.
• 2013 was the year when I only wrote an average of 2-3 posts per month, and even those were mostly compilations of my Facebook posts on Xena. Tsk tsk. Hopefully 2014 will change that too.
• 2013 was the year when Viv and I managed to do two holidays - a short one in Phuket and a longer one (a road trip in Australia that I am currently covering in Hopscotch). Contrary to our expectations, Xena did not give us much trouble. Hopefully 2014 will also allow us our two holidays.
• 2013 was the year when I published six more books, bringing my total book count to 18. (For the uninitiated, no I'm not some cool author that writes best-selling fiction. I write boring science assessment books for kids.) My time-management skills were really put to the test as I juggled taking care of Xena alongside my deadlines. Hopefully 2014 will bring in some happy royalty statements.
• 2013 was the year when, after a long long time, I indulged in a five-hour shopping spree with a friend, while Viv stayed at home and watched Xena. As I like to say, that truly was 'duty-free shopping'. Hopefully 2014 will bring many many new pairs of shoes (and ahem, the money to buy them with).
• 2013 was the year when McAloo tikki burger arrived in Singapore. It was yum, therefore it was kind of depressing that they took it away. Hopefully 2014 will bring it back, and all the other yummy things that only McD in India has.
• 2013 was the year when the terrible haze struck our clean and green Singapore, and the PSI shot to an unbelievable high of 401. Hopefully 2014 will be clean, green and haze-free.
• 2013 was the year when I reintroduced myself to my sewing machine. I made two dresses for Xena. With bolster covers. Hopefully 2014 will see more time for, and more creations on, the machine.
• 2013 was the year when some very dear friends from our university days visited us. It was so so so great to see them again. Hopefully 2014 will reunite us.

I have yet to finalise my list of resolutions for 2014, but I do have a blanket wish for 2014. Good health for everyone, especially Xena.

Have a terrific new year, bewdas! Thanks for hanging out at the bar. :)

Annual report - 2010

Aaaand... wrapping up the year is the usual Bar's Annual Report (which I just realised incidentally also abbreviates into BAR. Hey bhagwaaaaan.).

2010 was the year...

... that started with a bang -- the Sonu Nigam live concert

... when two of my bestest friends R and A visited Singapore, bringing out the insane jokes all over again

... when a crowd proved how powerful it can be, albeit in a very wrong way

... when Viv had a chance to play against Jayasuriya, and get Upul Tharanga's wicket

... when Viv couldn't be around for my birthday because of work, and made it up by driving me around California, on the road trip that we had been planning for the longest time

... when Aish turned four and too wise for her Mausi

... when Dad's post-retirement organic kitchen garden really took off. I know I have mentioned this like 36485902464 times but I cannot get over the 9.5-kg pumpkin he grew without using any chemicals

... when I had the chance to meet mehfil ke puraane bewdas and bewdi Sudipta, Varsha and Jay

... when Viv and I completed a dozen years of living in Singapore

... when both sets of parents visited us in a span of a few months, first the in-laws, and then after successful implementation of the green strategy, the parents too

... when Dad's blog finally kicked off

... when S2 moved back to India. My feelings about it can be summed up from the following conversation I had with Pizzadude. "So? Are they happy to be back in India?" I asked. "Yeah. I think so." He said. "Damnit." I said.

... when Viv ran his third full marathon. I, erm, contributed. I think.

... and finally, the big celebration -- 6 years of the Bar. Can't believe it has survived 6 years. May the madness never stop!

Cheers, bewdas, and have a super 2011! :D

Annual report - 2009

It's time to look back at the year that has (almost) gone by and reflect.

2009 was the year when...

...Viv and I took a weekend vacation to Bintan, where we realised why I should never drive be allowed to drive any vehicle, and why life-jackets are truly life jackets.

...I retired from the birthday-surprise business. I have been here done this for years now. Quoting from Rocket Singh, "Maine is business ko ghol kar pee rakha hai." and it was a good time to retire. We had a good year, starting with Pizzadude's F.R.I.E.N.D.S. themed surprise party, followed by a surprise rendition of a medley of songs (including Dard-e-disco!) which the gang had been rehearsing for my birthday, then a surprise go-karting session for Sumanth's (I still remember his dance of glee on the roads), followed by us breaking into Shub's house and cooking her a fancy lunch (and dancing to 'You're my chicken fry'), and concluded in style by kidnapping Viv and taking him to Malaysia for some go-karting on an F1 circuit. Call it old age or what you will, but I actually feel a sense of relief after making the decision to retire. The only problem is that no one seems to believe it. :(

...Viv revived the artist in me by getting me an easel to serve as a constant reminder that I should start sketching again.

...two close friends I met on the blog got married, resulting in a very memorable India trip for the rest of us.

...we did the last of the airport surprises. Hopefully.

...Viv ran his first full marathon.

...Dad retired and moved to his own place to finally settle down after a career spanning 36 years and many many cities and towns, some big and some small, that hold tales of my childhood.

...baby Aish started talking. As in really talking talking. And singing. And talking. And talking. And talking. And talking. And talking. And she continues.

...Singapore made it to Division 5 in the World Cup league.

...I finally managed to get Viv hooked on the Harry Potter books. I got him the full collection as a birthday gift in September. It's December now. He's on book 1. :/

...I went on a sudden work trip to the US. Incidentally my office was an hour away from where my sister lived. The sister I hadn't seen in almost 3 years. The sister I casually ran into on the streets making her go, "OH MY GOD. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE????"

...Viv and I made another sudden trip. To India this time. It was the first time Dad had his whole family at his own place. A memorable family gathering and lots of insanity.

...Shub and Sumanth ran their first full marathon. Viv ran his second. Pizzadude and I erm, cheered. (Hey, that's important, okay?)

...I got insanely obsessed with Javed Ali songs. I actually charged my ipod for 5 minutes this morning before rushing off to work, because there was zero charge and I just needed enough charge for one song. These days, if I don't listen to 'Tu hi haqueeqat' on the way to work and 'Aaj jao meri tamanna' once I get to work, I can't function normally. (I am not kidding.)

...I liked almost all Hindi movies I watched in the theatre. Just got back from 3 Idiots and loved it as well. Too bad my favourite reviewer Raja Sen gave it only two stars. I guess he went with very high expectations and I read his review and hence went with very low expectations.

Goodbye, 2009. There may have been some downtime here and there, but overall? Aaaall waazz well! :)

Annual report - 2008

So here's all the gyaan the Bhai has attained this year.

• If you dream something impossible and work towards it without telling a soul, it may just come true. (The not telling a soul bit is important.)
  
  
• IDD calls are one of the most paisa-vasool uses of money.
  
  
• Contrary to popular belief, when friends have a fallout, whether they will attempt to patch things up depends not on what caused the fallout, but what they had before the fallout.
  
  
• It's human instinct for most people to dislike the boss even if they don't mean to. It's not personal. It's just the default setting.
  
  
• There is only one way to get around office politics -- be bloody good at your job.
  
  
• If you constantly badger your faraway friends for a year, they will eventually give up and move to the east where you live.
  
  
• Life wouldn't be life without Bollywood.
  
  
• It's possible to be 'home' and yet miss 'home'.
  
  
• There is no need to be extra-emotional. Sometimes the 'bhaad mein jao' (go to hell) attitude is the most effective.
  
  
• A Himesh Reshammiya movie doesn't kill you. It kills the desire to live.
  
  
• What someone thinks of you is none of your business. Don't lose sleep over it.
  
  
• Work is worship. Truly.
  
  
• You are what you eat. And exercise.
  
  
• On some days, the IT guy at work can be your God.
  
  
• It is not easy to have a friend report to you at work and still remain friends. But with practice and professionalism, it's possible.
  
  
• If you're having a bad day, everyone seems evil. It's not them. It's you.
  
  
• Quoting something I wrote in a post long ago, something I tell myself over and over again -- Everyone has problems. The important thing is to make a bigger deal of the happy stuff.

Happy new year, bewdas! May the madness never end! :)