Year of beginnings, 2016

Same time last year, the reflective last few hours of 2015, I had decided that in 2016 I will take out time to do few things out of routine, out of my general commitments to family and work. I will do this to enrich myself with new knowledge, to gain new experiences and to continue to discover myself even as I am turning boringly old in the 30's club. 

I opened an unused Diary and jotted down three headings in three pages: Five new books, Five new places, Five new things to do. It may seem as a rather simple target to set for few, but once you are on a vicious homemaker-mother-employee cycle, this simple target seems almost impossible to accomplish. So was I able to accomplish what I set to achieve?

Let me start with the books 📖. To be honest, I don't get more than 10 minutes a day to give to a book and I get these 10 minutes when I am at the loo. This has become my secret 'me' time where I can loose myself (pun intended) in a book, in a story, in a character. This isn't necessarily without my daughter waiting for me by the door. Being a working mother, I am never in the habit of losing time, not even these 10 minutes! So the first book that made it through the door in 2016 was "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" by Amy Chua gifted to me by my husband. He knows nothing else could please me more than a story of a strong mother. His idea of gifting me this book completely worked as I went on to love the book. I did write a blog post about this book and how it at least seeded a thought in me about parenting outlooks. I couldn't relate a hundred percent to the extreme parenting technique of author Amy but I figured out an imaginary Rigidity Parenting Scale where if Amy's was a 100 then my mom's was a 70. I am probably going to be a 50 on this scale myself! The next book which I picked up was the result of all frustrating home-making moments put together - "The Super Woman's Guide to Super Fulfillment" by Dr. Jaime Kulaga. I never thought it would get to this, because picking up this book almost felt like going to a counselor for urgent mental health help! But yes, life could take you through such moments and I know it is not a bad idea to ask for help. I have just read the first two chapters of this book and somethings got sorted out for me right there. I need more reflective time with this book, so it isn't exactly a perfect loo companion. Will get back to it in 2017. The last one I can mention here apart from the many R.D stories I read around the year is  "The Girl who Chose" by Devdutt Patnaik. An aesthetically conceived book, leaves you thinking about all the choices you've made and how it has affected you thus far. I concluded thinking that our thoughts can wander on "what ifs" but the beauty of a true story is that it is never based on "what ifs", it's always about the choices people end up making. 

3/5 for Five New books!

I knew it would be really hard to visit Five New Places this year. But, unlike few previous years, I am glad we at-least made it to Two! The first one was Ujjani, a village approximately 100 km from Bangalore. It is my uncle's family home and village where they own acres of agricultural land. They grow coconuts, mangoes, ragi and such. The first day of 2016, we woke up in Ujjani to the pleasing call of birds. Fresh cold coconut water replaced our coffee and a brisk walk to the lake and temple were highlights of this family union trip. Our second trip was to Udaipur, a road trip with family, our first after our daughter was born. So quite a milestone really! It was like a breath of fresh air, recharging our bodies and minds. The escape from routines, escape from household chores, escape from everything known. We stayed at the Shiv Niwas Palace Hotel, where apparently the Bond flick Octopussy was shot many years back. Suddenly elevated to royalty, it felt surreal and more so when we visited interiors of the palace imagining how kings and queens must have lived. I totally needed more time to shop in this Udaipuri shopper's stop street called "Haathi Pol". The knick-knacks, dresses,  artifacts, shoes looked way too tempting to let go. In my next trip for sure! Our road trip ended with my husband's 6 hour non-stop driving stint back to home base. 

2/5 for Five New Places! 

The most difficult things to do are those out of your comfort zone. So,  5 new things to do had to be something that I've wanted to do but never done,  something i fear to do or just hate. Like cooking.. I don't like to cook all that much. This year and the number is shamefully low but I tried making just two new dishes. One was Pinepapple Rasam and the other was Mushroom Soup. Both were liked immensely by my family. I never liked mushroom until I made this soup and it was really good. 

Throwing away glass bottles is easy,  making use of them or recycling them is not. I tried my hand at recycling ♻ glass bottles by painting them. Here's one outcome I was happy and proud about.

Last, but not the least I learnt to drive a four-wheeler and got over my fear of driving in India! This has been a major relief and made me lot more independent. I'm loving it. 🎔

Glass Painting on a used honey bottle

Pineapple Rasam in the making

3/5 for New Things To Do! 

Now that my daughter is older and wiser (or is she!), I think 2017 will offer me lot more time to myself and my aspirations. 2017 has already started on a good note,  plan to keep up the mood and challenge myself to go beyond what I taught myself in 2016.😃

Bye-Bye 2016 . Welcome 2017.