It's all good, I promise!

1. What did you do in 2025 that you’d never done before?

Does parenting a toddler count?

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


Surprisingly enough, yes. Which has made me pledge other resolutions this year that won't go so well I'm certain.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. It was sudden and brutal and over in 3 weeks, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies. 



5. What countries did you visit?

Just India, this year. Bangalore, Bishnupur, Mandarmani for fun. Bombay for work. It was a quiet year, trip-wise. The Bangalore trip remains closest to my heart.


6. What would you like to have in 2026 that you lacked in 2025?

The other house. Peace at work. 



7. What date from 2025 will remain etched upon your memory?

19th September, for heartbreaking reasons.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Being consistent with exercise. Not having a nervous breakdown.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Getting off my phone. My brain is addicted to those tiny dopamine hits and I do not know how to turn it off. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

One mystery fever that lasted for a week and made me see stars.  

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to Bangalore

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Bhetki, Topshey, Ira


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

Have you SEEN the state of everything, everywhere?


14. Where did most of your money go?

Tandoori chicken from Oudh, Ubers to Rajarhat, and boxes of diapers. My middle class, mundane Bengali existence cannot be more in-your-face than this.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Nothing


16. What song/album will always remind you of 2025?

Furfuri by Kuma Sagar

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:

1. Happier or sadder?  Happy with sudden, intense spikes of sadness.
2. Thinner or fatter? Thinner, but barely.
3. Richer or poorer? Same. I think I've come to accept that I'm terrible with money.


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Read. 


19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Social media


20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Christmas was spent recuperating from an intense Christmas eve dance party at a fancy hotel. I finally roused myself out of bed to take the toddler out for Christmas lights in the evening and got stuck in insane traffic for hours. [Did anyone know that PATULI is the most happening Christmas spot in the town nowadays?!]. I eventually salvaged the evening by buying Ira her favourite croissant that was almost the size of her head. Toddlers are very easily impressed. 

21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

The groupchat with Shallow Hollows kept me sane

22. Did you fall in love in 2025?

No


23. How many one night stands in this last year?

LMFAO


24. What was your favourite TV programme?

I discovered and was obsessed with The Pitt. 

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Yes.

26. What was the best book(s) you read?

I miserably failed my Goodreads challenge again. Discovered Dolly Alderton, who was peppy and chick-lity in a way that appealed to my frazzled brain.  

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Soma Ghosh

28. What did you want and get?

A stable job, a stable life, this banal existence


29. What did you want and not get?

Some more travel would have been nice.

30. What were your favourite films of this year?

I rewatched 'Aranyer Dinratri' on the big screen when it was re-released this year. Does that count? 

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 37. Threw myself a nice little party with Malayali food and close friends. Also splurged and got my hair washed at the nearby parlour. Ah the decadence. 

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 
A little more money, a little less responsibilties


33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2025?

I rewore clothes till they fell apart

34. What kept you sane?

My friends


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

No. I think I have grown out of this teenage question now. Might I have grown out of this entire teenage questionnaire as well?

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

[Is it insane that I've been posting the same thing for years now?]

37. Who did you miss?

Mamima

38. Who was the best new person you met?

No one.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2025.

When in doubt, shut up.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

Nohi jontro, nohi jontro, ami praani...

Oh this mundane existence

1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before?

Parent, mostly. 

And took a metro to Chowringhee every day for work -- just like our forefathers intended office-going to be. 

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


LOL, no. And yes. [বৃথা আশা মরিতে মরিতেও মরে না।]


3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nope, for a change. 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No one I was close to, but there were deaths in friends' families that really threw me for a loop. 



5. What countries did you visit?

Thailand! [Bardhaman, Jim Corbett National Park, Delhi, and Puri within India. Went on a few trips this year after what seems like a lifetime.] 


6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023?

An additional bedroom and a few more hours of sleep everyday.



7. What date from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory?

This was a strangely memorable yet mundane year. There was a deep sense of inevitability. exhaustion and inexplicably exciting boredom baked into the days.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting a new job. Completing a new certification. Successfully keeping the little human alive for more than a year. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

Zero sleep health. Zero mental health. Zero physical health. LMFAO.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

The end of the year was replete with mystery illnesses that necessitated much poking and prodding with alien objects.  

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to Bangkok. :)

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Little human's, no doubt!


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

*Gestures wildly at the world around us*


14. Where did most of your money go?

Upkeep of two- and four-legged progenies. Veritable Mother India I have now become!


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Travel plans!


16. What song/album will always remind you of 2024?

Sandhya Raga by Ravi Shankar (Live in Moscow sessions)

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:

1. Happier or sadder? Happier, I think. More content and settled for sure.
2. Thinner or fatter? Oh, so much fatter.
3. Richer or poorer? Oh, so much poorer. LOL.


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Read. 


19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Obsess


20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Christmas was spent like responsible parents attending a Carnival, where Little Human ran around like a monkey and refused to climb out of a toy train. In the evening we escaped to a party for a couple of mimosas before dutifully heading back home for childcare duties. 

Look at us! Turning into our parents in front of our eyes! Veritable middle age knocking at our doors -- mimosas in one hand and Saridon in another!


21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

The Core Group groupchat!

22. Did you fall in love in 2024?

Yes! :)


23. How many one night stands in this last year?

Are you kidding me?!


24. What was your favourite TV programme?

This was a terrible year TV wise. I spent the entire year hopped up on caffeine and Instagram reels. Don't remember the last show I actually started and finished watching. 

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Yes.

26. What was the best book(s) you read?

Number of books read this year did not move to double digits, much to my disappointment. However, even among these meagre rations, Babel by R.F. Kuang stood out as an extraordinary piece of imagination. 

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Alas, Miss Rachel's Phonics song is now tattooed on my brain.

28. What did you want and get?

Stability among this humdrum middle-class existence.


29. What did you want and not get?

A moment to relax with a drink and a book. A few slow mornings with a cup of coffee.


30. What were your favourite films of this year?

All We Imagine As Light [At the risk of sounding corny, it is an absolutely beautiful piece of cinema.] 

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 36. An uneventful day was had with a vegetarian (!) lunch from Burma Burma. In my defense, it was great food -- even if meatless. 

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 
"What is this life if, full of care,/
We have no time to stand and stare..."


33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2024?

Oversized clothes and a little bit of self loathing

34. What kept you sane?

My friends


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

All my teenage fantasies were ground to dust because Gaiman was exposed as a predator. I'm taking a break from hero worship for now.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

[Also, the day that DIMPLE BHABHI HATIYE trended on Indian social media. #iykyk]

37. Who did you miss?

My old, less frazzled self.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

No one.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024.

"The truth is of course that there's no journey. We're arriving and departing all at the same time."


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

https://youtu.be/PiFeGLc18_A?si=RTsKqdnk1udyhiZb

2023, the Watershed Year

  1. What did you do in 2023 that you’d never done before?

Many new things, but primarily this one: 

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


Nada. Zip. Zilch.



3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

LOL. Please refer to question 1. 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. Several. Four-legged and two. This was a horrific year of intense personal losses amidst bouts of joy. 



5. What countries did you visit?

None.  


6. What would you like to have in 2024 that you lacked in 2023?

Fewer people falling sick and/or dying would be nice please. A little more sleep would also not hurt.



7. What date from 2023 will remain etched upon your memory?

3rd January, for bone-crushing grief.

And 23rd July, for obvious reasons. :)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Holding on to my sanity by a thread. 

9. What was your biggest failure?

No regrets. I really was a baller this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Is growing an entire living being inside you and then getting it out count as illness or injury?

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A few therapy sessions.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Mine, no doubt.


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

BE's


14. Where did most of your money go?

New human being and moving to (yet another) new house.


15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The Bangalore trip! And the other obvious thing!


16. What song/album will always remind you of 2020?

The Mandalorian title track

Hatali lal by Noor Benju

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:

1. Happier or sadder? Intense happiness with bouts of intense sadness. It's all a muddle at this point.
2. Thinner or fatter? Fatter, definitely.
3. Richer or poorer? Poorer. Things are expensive!


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Yoga. Sleep. 


19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Doomscrolling.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?

A quiet Christmas was had with a leisurely late breakfast (a luxury these days!) and a good book. Everyone needed time to recuperate after the rousing Christmas eve party that turned my house upside down!


21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

If "on the phone" means texting, then S and D's group chats kept me sane during this humdinger of a year!

22. Did you fall in love in 2023?

Yes! :)


23. How many one night stands in this last year?

LOL. If I get any night free, I would like to sleep please. Anything else can take a hike.


24. What was your favourite TV programme?

The Boys, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us. The new seasons of What We Do In The Shadows and The Bear. 

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Yes.

26. What was the best book(s) you read?

This was an appalling year books wise. I spent the year doomscrolling through social media while being insanely sleep deprived or nauseous. Having said that, I found Robert Galbraith's The Running Grave extremely engaging, and sacrificed precious sleep to finish the book. [The politics of reading Galbraith is something I'm still figuring out. But that's a whole other story.]

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Noor Benju!

28. What did you want and get?

A long leave from the job.


29. What did you want and not get?

A respite from relentless grief.


30. What were your favourite films of this year?

Ballabhpurer Roopkatha 

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 35. Spent the day getting my passport renewed, then fought with S and went out for dinner alone -- stuffing my face with tandoori chicken and a gigantic icecream. It was quite a grown-up birthday! Had a lovely party with friends later though. 

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 
Some people/animals not dying would have been nice.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2023?

It was a good day if I remembered to take a shower.

34. What kept you sane?

My friends


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Neil Gaiman, forever and ever.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

37. Who did you miss?

Puti.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

New human! :)

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2023.

How you spend your days is, of course, how you spend your life.


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

Pressure pushin' down on me

Pressin' down on you, no man ask for

Under pressure that brings a building down

Splits a family in two, puts people on streets

Pressure pushing down on me, pushing down on you, no man ask for

Under pressure that brings a building down,

Splits a family in two, puts people on streets

That's okay,

That's the terror of knowing what this world is about,

Watchin' some good friends screamin' "let me out",

Pray tomorrow gets me higher,

Pressure on people, people on streets,

That's okay!

2022, you weren't half bad

 1. What did you do in 2022 that you’d never done before?

Successfully moved to the new house! Being a landlord suits me I think. <insert ironic sunglasses emoji here> 

Also spent a few months taking a break from work and regrouping mentally. I've never actually not had a job as an adult and it was a necessary but sometimes anxiety inducing endeavour.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


I think I did manage to lose some weight, but happily gained it all back by the end of the year. Hallelujah! [And nope.] 



3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! A cousin/friend! Much excaiite. :) 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, fingers crossed.



5. What countries did you visit?

None.  


6. What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022?

Better health, a new passport, and figuring out the South Calcutta shifting situation. 



7. What date from 2022 will remain etched upon your memory?

6th May, because new! house! 

6th December, just because! 


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Successfully holding on to my mental health with the new job. 


9. What was your biggest failure?

Not restarting couples counselling. Not travelling as much as I would like to. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I keep on falling and spraining various limbs, and suffered from the mysterious-fever-that-could-be-covid-or-dengue-or-typhoid-we-don't-know right after pujo. So that was fun!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to Shillong!


12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Mine, no doubt.


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

S'


14. Where did most of your money go?

New house and the bane of Swiggy.



15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The epic Shillong and Talshari trips with friends! Moving out of PP! 


16. What song/album will always remind you of 2020?

Starman - David Bowie

Baynabilashi - Sahana Bajpaei and Samantak Sinha

Shaq - Swanand Kirkire et al

This random rendition of sandhya raga by Ravi Shankar that has refused to leave my brain for months.

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:

1. Happier or sadder? Same, I think
2. Thinner or fatter? Same.
3. Richer or poorer? Richer.


18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Travelling. Yoga. 


19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Stressing.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?


I spent the whole day napping under a blanket after a particularly tiring Christmas eve. Had biriyani for lunch, followed by the new Knives Out movie on Netflix. 'Twas a satisfying day for me, though S' extrovert ass hated it.


21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

No one is calling anyone anymore. It's 2022!

22. Did you fall in love in 2022?

Nope.


23. How many one night stands in this last year?

None.


24. What was your favourite TV programme?

Moon Knight and What We Do In The Shadows and The Bear. Honourable mention to Bridgerton Season 2, which short-circuited my brain when I realized they were playing Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham in Victorian England. The absolute beauty of Jonathan Bailey did not hurt either.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nope.

26. What was the best book(s) you read?

The Earthsea trilogy by Ursula Le Guin. Why didn't anyone tell me about her sooner?!

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Not a discovery per se, but I've been listening to a lot of Ulhas Kashalkar after attending his stunning concert last month. 

28. What did you want and get?

A new job.


29. What did you want and not get?

Happiness is a warm gun -- bang bang shoot shoot :) 


30. What were your favourite films of this year?

The Banshees of Inisherin

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 34. Had a superb daytime party at Anderson with friends later in the week. The day of the birthday was spent having a good lunch at The Cafe and cuddling with all my animals. Wasn't a bad day.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 
A little more yoga. A little more contentment. 

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2022?

Non-existent, nightie adjacent.

34. What kept you sane?

Cats and dog and books and friends.


35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

The (newly single!) Neil Gaiman, forever and ever.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

I ... don't know where to start. Next question please.

37. Who did you miss?

The friends lost. This was a major year of friendships dissolving.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Absolutely no idea.


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022.

This, too, shall pass.


40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?

There's a Starman waiting in the sky

He'd like to come and meet us

But he thinks he'd blow our minds

There's a Starman waiting in the sky

He's told us not to blow it

'Cause he knows it's all worthwhile

He told me

Let the children lose it

Let the children use it

Let all the children boogie...