The Year that was - 2009 .. And a Happy New Year 2010

Image by b. inxee♪♫ via Flickr

2009 is a very eventful year for me. I have much to thank for and much to learn from this year.

Personally, it was a roller coaster from happiness to sadness to grief to happiness again. I got married this year and career wise also it was good growth. More than ever, there is more clarity that you have no excuses for not doing what you want to do. I am thankful for a loving wife, and wonderful friends in my life.

I have vacillated between contributing back to the society by various forms like volunteering for teaching, contributing money etc and going back on it due to lack of time or interest. And my new year will be the year of learning and sharing where the emphasis will be more on giving. And as on every Jan 1, the resolution of exercising daily does make an appearance. I hope I would be able to act on it this year. I think I will find more time for personal growth this year to run marathons, join new degree or venture into raw foods.

Regarding the other things which capture my mind, there have been quite a few wins like the introduction of nano car, Indian team becoming the number one test team. In Hyderabad, the PVNR express way was opened which gave me some cheer. As PC, the home minister said we were really lucky to get away in this year without a terrorist attack on any of our cities. This year will be remembered as the year of economic recession, but there are very good signs that economy is back on track. Even as the Indian govt says that inflation is reducing, the cost of food grains especially rice and pulses is steeply rising, which is a cause for concern. This year saw the reelection of congress both in center and in the state. But what I have been disappointed is the apathy of the voters in rejecting good parties (LokSatta) by staying away from voting and allowing the other parties a free run to run their corrupt show. The GHMC elections later this year was also a rude shock to me and to LokSatta as it proves that clean politics doesn't have a place. But I being eternally hopeful, am hoping that Loksatta will learn from its mistakes and grow its grass roots support. This year saw Chiranjeevi entering politics and is just learning. This year saw the end of YSR, who was a man of the masses but despised by many. The Telangana movement, which was down due to the strong leadership of YSR, came back to haunt the congress and the centre which has done flip flops and now it is seriously hurting the prospects of a United AP. The BJP has gone from bad to worse and is facing a serious leadership crisis. Google's Android continues to capture mindshare and market share from other mobile platforms. Google's wave launches but fails to gather mindshare. Twitter matures and I also have become a little more active on twitter in sharing links.

After living through the year, I somehow feel I am coming closer to the 'SthithaPragna' state defined by Sri Krishna in Geeta. As I have written elsewhere in this blog, the amount of goodness and badness in the world is same, if you feel that you can change the world it is just your innocence. It is that in helping the world to change, you are helping yourself. Hence I have already started to take all what comes with equanimity but ofcourse always working to get a desired outcome.

I want to end this post with serenity prayer which was told to me by Ketan in his comment to the 2009 new year post

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Wishing you a happy new year 2010