Old Year Reminiscing

Old Year Reminiscing

The past year has been quite a ride; and I have had many opportunities to learn valuable life-lessons. So, apart from the usual stock-taking of the amazing blessings this year, I will also try to put down valuable lessons I've learnt this year, and also, when relevant, mention the people instrumental in teaching me these lessons.

So here goes.. Blessings.

I celebrated New Years last year at a friend's place in Delhi. A bunch of friends got together at 10:30pm, had a late dinner, and watched movies uptil 4 in the morning. After a brief sleep, we all woke up at 10am and began discussing politics, religion, faith, etc. If it was not for them, I would have meditated longer on the year past and the year ahead by myself, but it's only fellowship with friends like these that make New-Years different from the other holiday. Of course I had a brilliant dinner with other church friends at another place.


From here on, like to split my year into 3 chunks. The first 6 months, July, and the last 5 months.

The first 6 months.
These months were in Delhi, where I had a great time at work, and at church.

I got a chance to visit 2 places in Bihar and one place in Haryana on official duty during this time.
I got a chance to attend a cathedral service and sing bass to 'All hail the power of Jesus' Name' at the top of my voice
I enjoyed fellowship of wonderful church members in my own church. At first I was upset that there aren't many bachelors to have fun with after service, but having married members in church do have their perks.
I got to attend a piano masterclass
I got a chance to find a house of my own on rent.
I got a a new mobile phone that I can surf the net on

Things I learnt.

- You look the stupidest when you lose control of your tongue. Verbal diarrhoea sounds good only when the words are carefully scripted, and not ad-lib
- It's important to stay in touch. Though it's hard - Joseph
- Facilitated group discussions are better learning tools than lecturing - Mark D
- The art of summarizing - Mark D
- It's futile to argue with anyone above thirty (Well there are a few open-minded ones)
- Asking questions is an important tenet to listening - Moni S
- Heart-breaks stalls intelligent behavior - Anil
- There are always people to pray for you - Seema
- Going out of your way to help perfect strangers could be rewarding - Seema
- Spicy pork curry and rajaa mirchi pulls you out of depression - Khaning n Achui
- Driving late at New Years Night in Dwarka is dangerous. Too much fog -John n Jas

July

- I got a chance to visit a foreign country. (I count Nepal as a foreign country)
- A reassurance that I've got friends and family to support me when I'm dow
- I got to know what a cannula means, and that I don't need to be afraid of it.
- That TB could be a pain in the neck (well, chest... actually)
- Facilitated group discussions are so- so - so much harder than lecturing
- Overworking gets you nowhere, but it gives you a slight high.
- IVs hurt less than IM injections
- Nursing is the most under-rated profession
- The bigger the hospital, the bigger the cheats inside it
- Voveran helps.. Especially when you have a fever. - Dr Saira
- That I tend to take my health lightly. (I don't know how to take it heavily.. err seriously)

Last 5 Months
- To be taken care of by others after fending for yourself for a while requires humility
- That to leave your life in God's hands could mean that God won't tell you what exactly He's going to do with it.
- To not know what exactly God has planned could be very very annoying
- Controling emotions is no joke. (Still haven't figured out how that works)
- To take life one step at a time, especially when they are slow ones, requires patience-and faith... grr
- To fight with God really means to kick against the goads.. Ouch. I'd rather fight with myself. To hell with self-preservation
- That it's too easy to be a snob, and harder to get down to another's level
- Excitement is one cure for depression - Rachel K

Let's see what the new year brings!
Thanks for reading!!!

Christmas fun

We, the Joseph family didn't know where we'd be spending Christmas until the very last moment. With late planning, and circumstances changing faster than the speed of light, we didn't know whether we'd spend it here in Calcutta, or if we'd manage to book late tickets so that we could have some family time with Grandparents, cousins etc.

But things worked out so well by God's grace, all the tickets were booked and confirmed without much hassle (how was that possible in the holiday season?!)

Being someone who has only just gathered up the courage to make mile-long walks after months of not leaving the house compound on foot due to fear of exhaustion, I found the prospect exciting. Fun with cousins in the middle of tea and cardamom plantations would test my physical stamina and pump clean fresh-tea-and-cardomom-filled air into my TB fluid filled lungs making it a truly rejuvinating experience. Just what I need.
And it's just what I got! Though we had to wake up early (at 3am) in the morning in Calcutta to reach Chennai in the afternoon, then meet my grandparents and watch a movie there, then go to bed late because we couldn't get home on time 11pm and wake up early (4am) again, to take 7 hour train-journey to Mysore, then take a 4 hour jeep ride to our cousins place, to we were all still fired up for a game of basketball that evening, and enjoy a post dinner caroling session after that. Such was the excitement!

Spending quality time with family is something I haven't been able to do for a long time, let alone with the extended family. So, the five month vacation at home with parents climaxing to a 3 day fun-time with the extended family was just what I needed.
Fun treks around the plantations, last-minute-gift shopping, the gorgeous food (courtesy Chitie) singing Christmas carols, pushing eachother to sing solos, pulling eachother's legs, talking and sharing lives and praying together made it so unforgettable.
We were worried if the trip would weary us out, because of all the travelling with so less time spent together. We had prayed hard that the trip would be rejuvenating and not tiresome, and praise God it was! ... err.. rejuvenating.
Can't wait for the next grand family get-together!