Hello 2011!

With this entry, I mark my first foray into the blogosphere in 2011. This auspicious beginning hopefully heralds a certain consistency in my blogging and will not be as intermittent as it was in the previous year. As cliche' as it sounds, any entry made in the new year would be incomplete without mention of a new year resolution and well, my resolution for the year is to have no resolutions (also a cliche' mostly).
This past year has been hugely fulfilling and has taught me some enduring lessons at the workplace and in life. The highlight of the year was achieving a career milestone- becoming an Assistant Manager at age 25. Other than this, I had a lot of my perceptions shattered and had to do a rethink on many things I had taken for granted up until now. Important lessons learnt:-
a) Egos can destroy friendships: If someone is not ready to set aside their ego and even discuss what is bothering them, there is no friendship there. As hard as I tried to even get a word across, a conversation is only possible with mutual consent. At the end of the year, all I kept wondering was whether it was all so fickle in the first place that at the end , it was just me attempting to salvage equations.
b) Age doesnt matter: Met two really amazing people in the last one year- both of them atleast a decade older than me but developed an easy, platonic bond with them. One of them is a friend and mentor while the other is my sounding board- to both I am so thankful ;)
c) Do your work and forget about the fruit: This is right off the Bhagwad Gita but so applicable in everything we do. I remember the angst I went through a couple of weeks before announcement of my promotion and the entire 'will it happen, wont it happen' see- saw of emotions. A very wise colleague of mine (Mr.RDX) put it so plainly and simply- 'If you have done what you have to and if you are good at what you do, no amount of office politics or external factors can stop you from moving ahead.'

Getting back to the new year- I shall not make any resolutions as they become psychologically binding. Hence, the new year is all about a new outlook and a 5-point agenda.
The agenda (in no particular order):-
1) Lose weight- about time really!!!! The Eureka moment was brought about by a colleague who sent me pictures from when I first joined office in 2006. The comparative pictures of 2006 and 2010 were shocking to say the least. Its amazing how much weight one can add just sitting on one's backside and working all day while munching on oily food prepared in client canteens. Even more amazing is how I never realised when I was 3-4 kilos heavier. Now, 10 kilos overweight and realization strikes me like a bolt of lightning. Its a mammoth task- which is why the entire year has been earmarked for this.

2) Get out of the comfort zone- Maybe being a Chartered Accountant makes me inherently risk averse. However, I find that I have slipped into a comfort zone. 2011 shall be the year to introspect and understand how best to not get stuck in a rut of quicksand. There shall be new hobbies, new networks and new challenges.

3) Travel more- A not so proud confession- I went nowhere in 2010 (Mumbai doesnt count). My last planned trip was to Bangkok in November 2009. My dad says he would rather I saved the money (read invest). My polar view is why spend tomorrow what you can spend today ( a mantra that obviously grates on my dad's nerves and which my shopaholic nature can be largely attributed to) and more importantly what you can enjoy better at the moment. On the cards- trip to Andaman and Nicobar islands as well as a Euro trip planned around my best friend's wedding in Denmark.

4) Find a guy- Emphasis on the word ' find' a guy and not so much on 'marriage'. This point makes its way into my agenda mainly owing to my mom's emotional turmoil on the lack of tall and qualified boys and due to some alarming promos of an upcoming movie called 'Turning 30'!
Its hilarious but I still recall watching the promo in the theatre and remarking intially-' Oh, this movie is going to be so drab.' Until at the end of the promo, Richa and me sheepishly realised that the 5 minute promo had just mirrored our social incapacities in terms of getting older but not finding the right one! (Uff!!) So watch out world- I may have had blinkers on all this while but I shall now keep my eyes open even though the hopeless romantic in me wishes the guy finds me and not vice-versa. (Coming soon- blog entry dedicated to this caption and progress on it so far).

5) Give the GMAT- For all friends of mine reading this, I am sure you guys just remarked ' Thank heavens for small mercies- she still remembers it!'. I may have cleared my Chartered Accountancy exam in the first attempt which ought to have made me feel invincible in terms of passing tough examinations. However, never has an exam or rather its format frustrated or stumped me to this extent. Firstly, whoever thought of the adaptive feature in the exam is one sadistic human being. This basically means that if I falter in the intial few questions- I am screwed even if I manage to pick myself and survive the rest of it. How defeatist in spirit is that!!! Anyway , the GMAT and me have been playing hard to get for a while because I simply dont get it! I refuse to join classes that rip you off with their tall claims. And I also cannot manage sitting down and focusing on studying for it while keeping my job intact. So this year- the exam needs to be given and the target score set is 700.

All in all, thats an exhaustive line-up for the year.
Agenda review date: One year hence.