2008 in retrospect

An eventful year. Lot of good things, but some painfully bad memories too.

With Utsav being a huge success, the new year had started off on a really good note. For those who do not know, Utsav is the annual day event of Saanthwana, an NGO that I am a part of and something really close to my heart. Teamwork payed off and the event went off as well as it was planned. A little behind schedule though, but in Hyderabad, that is definitely okay. LOL

At approximately the same time, admits from universities had started coming in and I was delighted after getting through Computer Science at Arizona State.

The republic day visit to Sphoorti (an organization similar to ours) which is managed by a very good friend of ours, Srivyal. We had a wonderful time with the kids and the dance performance by Satya, Priyanka, Anusha, Priyanka P and Sampath, waving the national flag. All those who were present that day will recollect the size of the flag. I wish I had a picture :). Suvidha engaged the children in some chit chat to spread some knowledge about the national flag and other national symbols.

A few days later, something totally unpredictable happened. My mom called me to inform me of some letter from the Indian Institute of Management. (Trivia: I had always wanted to get into the IIMs, but had given up hope after two unsuccessful attempts). The third attempt was halfhearted to say the least and I had never given it a thought after that last Sunday of November, 2007. Not expecting anything substantial, I opened the letter.

'You have been shortlisted for Group Discussion and Personal Interview' it said, and my joy knew no bounds. More so, since it came at a time when I was least expecting it.

2008 had started off on a good note and I knew this was a big year for me. All was well, until February 25th.

I was on my way to office, as usual when Nagesh messaged about an accident to Bhagi. I simply smiled as I knew that he must be joking and upto his usual antics. Sometime later, another message. This time from Kiran. My heart sunk as I knew something was terribly wrong. A few hours later, my friend Bhagirath breathed his last. It was a huge setback for me, considering how close he was to me. Wasn't it just 24hrs ago that we were driving around with another friend, ice-creams in hand? And to think that 24hours later, he wasn't existent seemed very very difficult to digest.

The first week of April was when I had my interview at IIM, Bangalore. I was pretty pepped up because this was what I had been aiming for the last few years, a shot at the IIMs and I wanted to make the most of it. Then again, Someone thought differently. The day before my interview, I received a mail that I was admitted into Texas A&M. My dream admit and one of the better schools in the US, I was over the moon. Totally.

I went to the interview next day with nothing to lose. And a few weeks later when I was informed that I did not make it, I knew I had lost nothing. As much as I wanted to be in the big league in India, I was sure that an MIS program was where I belonged. Maybe an MBA sometime in the future, but for now, I was heading to be an Aggie.

Back to Saanthwana. With the help of Pragnya and her friends from Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, we organized a highly successful dental camp at Sphoorti. Even the hot summer sun did not deter people as we saw a good turnaround.

June 10th - we celebrated Bhagirath's birthday, among children from Sphoorti and Aadarna, just the way he would have wanted to. An emotional moment for a lot of us, including his family. We are thankful to them for supporting us throughout.

This is what I left behind as I flew away, for a new beginning at College Station. Fall was a demanding semester, yes, but I think God has been very kind. Assignments, tests and articles became the order of the day, in addition to my job as a Graduate Assistant. With finals nearing, night-outs were added to the aforementioned list. :)

December 10th - finals end. Finally time to relax. I took off to New Jersey to spend some time with friends. As I write this post, we're forced to stay indoors; its snowing pretty heavily.

Good Indian food, movies with a desi crowd.... feels like I'm back home. :) Someone told me before I left, New Jersey is mini-India. Probably I will go see the Statue of Lady Liberty tomorrow. We're pretty close to NYC in a place called Millburn. Millburn City, as Manohar prefers calling it. :)

Probably this is my longest post and will remain so for a long time. If you've come till here, then thank you :). I have written this for myself, if not for anyone else, to remind myself of new friends made, the joys we've shared, victories I have been a part of and the grief that has united us.

Cheers, to everything!

And oh! A happy new year to all of you! :)