2022 A Review

There have been a few milestones this year, with the top three being quite simple. Getting a job in the Northeast of England and moving my whole life. Getting a girlfriend (who I am currently still in a relationship with). Finally, travelling again. I was able to head off to Porto, I was in the Himalayas and in the States. Not all the milestones were positive, though. I lost another grandparent; I think that my friendship circle has declined in the post covid world, and my environmental impact is probably at an all time.

I could talk about how work has been fulfilling in terms of happiness and self-worth after the pandemic, that I have found the right industry for me (energy) and how grateful I am to be back employment when it is clear that there is currently a recession ongoing in the UK and a global slowdown.

I am not proud of the year I spent as a family member this year, to my extended family. Not that I was not available to people but spent the year working on my own path. I fell below the standard that I set for myself in being available and just being with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and the likes. It comes after losing both my paternal grandparents in a short period where I no longer feel as though the energy, I put in is going to be reflected back. It is quite funny to have these thoughts, when I know most of my relatives barely stay connected with me, unless I put in the effort. But it is about the standards we hold ourselves to, which are more important in the end. At least to me.

Do I feel as though I am a worse person? No. Just a separate set of priorities. I do think that my Nicky Kaka was right about delay working as long as possible, because once you start, you never stop.

I am grateful to have a partner this year. While meeting Aditi has had its pains of travelling around the world and spending too much time trying to produce a reason to go to the States. As you may know not a favourite destination of mine. But luckily the family bought that I just wanted to go over to the museums and seeing a friend. Nothing too unusual and a not-a-lie-but-neither-the-truth remarked passed. I went over and had a fabulous time, maybe I’ll write a full blog post about that trip.

Thinking about my health this year, it has been a rather weird line. I have probably not changed much in weight overall, I’ve slept less because of shift life and in August completed my 10k steps a day (still have, even when spending most of a day asleep in India unwell). I played tennis a bit more regularly with some of the old New Hall lot, instead of just going for a drink or for dinner. Honestly, playing sport again reminded me how much I miss running around. It is probably something I’m going to have to focus on more in the new year.

Wealth it has been fine and I’m putting more money into the pension pot. While I do think that there is a recession happening right now globally (not just in the UK which has been in one since July), I do think that this is the best time to buy a property in London as prices crash. We will see what is available in the new year, as prices will come down as people struggle with winter energy bills and cost of living continues to increase.

In terms of hobbies, I have read more books this year thanks to my Kobo (I will get a review out at the one-year mark). Read everything from philosophy to non-fiction and some forays back into fiction. If I had to say there was a book of the year, I would give it to Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla. While not released this year, but a book about identity theft on twitter with the social media company disintegrating since Musk’s purchase of the company. In terms of philosophy and idea thinking, I have been amused by Taleb this year. While not pure philosophy, his insights into data, choice and the Incerto is something that I would recommend you reading on a flight.

In terms of films, I loved Elvis. Go see it. Otherwise, I have not watched that much this year. I do miss the cinema though; I regret not being able to see Knives Out in the cinema. Bollywood need to figure out what is going on, as they cannot being able to write anything new. Even songs are remixes, not creative (which is different to the actual Hindi music industry).

With podcasting, no new episodes for Chai Noon, no new appearances on anything new. Though, I may be on one in the new year. In terms of listening, best new pod for me has been Empire, with Anita Anand and William Dalrymple. It’s fantastic, highly detailed and does make you wonder why the British education system contains nothing about the most important part of its history. In terms of news, I’ve enjoyed listening to both The News Agents (the old BBC Americast team) and The Rest is Politics. I would also give a short shoutout to Rule the Roost podcast, which has clearly become my preferred Spurs pod.

That is a pretty decent summary of my life in the last year. I will expand on details if anyone asks. In terms of the blog, it is no surprise that the Gujju Song remains my top post of the year, considering it is the number one hit on google. How? I do not know, but honestly if I put an add up on that page alone, I would probably earn enough to pay for the blog’s annual cost. Views are slightly down, but I have barely posted this year, so fair enough. To the one person read the green chutney recipe, I hope you enjoyed it. To the person in the Maldives, who are you and do you have a couch for me to sleep on?

Enjoy the holiday season everyone. I’m at work keeping the lights on.