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...

2021

 1. What did you do in 2021 that you’d never done before?

Learnt how to drive and got my driver's license. I'm still a terrible driver and literally have miles to go before I sleep, but baby steps darling!

Also adopted a rambunctious dog who continues to drive us up the wall, but is probably one of the best decisions ever taken. :)

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


 I have zero recollection about resolving to do anything last year. I will absolutely NOT make any resolution for 2022. Existence during apocalypse is all bullshit anyway. 



3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! Much excitement about second core baby. :)

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes.



5. What countries did you visit?

None.  


6. What would you like to have in 2022 that you lacked in 2021?

My own house and a brief respite from this terrible 2021 Mental Health Spiral. 



7. What date from 2021 will remain etched upon your memory?

11th January, because start of the vexing new job. 24th January, because Bhetki came home. 2nd May, because stressful close call with fascist regime. 1st November, because first core baby. 


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Not having a nervous breakdown every other day.


9. What was your biggest failure?

Not getting the house situation sorted. Not travelling. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Working for 12 hours on a shitty keyboard has relegated me to the Carpal Tunnel Forever corner. And of course, mental health stuff went from bad to worse.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Nothing, really.


12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Mine. And sometimes Bhetki's.


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

S'


14. Where did most of your money go?

Food and books and Uber. 



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

Going for a quick weekend trip to Digha with friends. This year was strangely devoid of excitement and full of grey, listless drudgery. 


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

Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate - Debe live at Bozar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJUE03aeaQ4&list=RDpJUE03aeaQ4&start_radio=1

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

1. Happier or sadder? Sadder.
2. Thinner or fatter? Fatter.
3. Richer or poorer? Richer.


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

Travelling. Taking a minute to myself with a book. 


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

Work.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?


We woke up late after a rousing Christmas eve and sat around nursing strong cups of coffee. Then we stuffed ourselves full at Manzilat and I took a 3 hour nap in the evening. 'Twas the best day.


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

Sadly enough, my boss.

22. Did you fall in love in 2021?

Nope.


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

None.


24. What was your favourite TV programme?

I discovered 'Succession' this year, and life will never be the same. 

'Hospital Playlist Season 2' and Wandavision should also get honourable mentions. I was a Marvel glutton this year.

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

Yup.

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

Slowly getting my reading groove back. Agatha Christie ALWAYS comes through. Best new book still remains Yaa Gyasi's 'Transcendent Kingdom'.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Whale in the Pond. Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate.

28. What did you want and get?

A new job.


29. What did you want and not get?

To move into the new house. Some contentment. 


30. What were your favourite films of this year?

Spiderman: No Way Home.

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

I was 33. Had a good partywithfriends the day before, and spent the morning drinking coffee and shooting the shit with D. Met parents in the afternoon for a biriyani lunch before coming home and having a supernova-sized fight with S. It was a ... mixed sort of day.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 
A little less work. A little more action. 

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?

Pajamas with ratty t-shirts.

34. What kept you sane?

Cats and dog and books and friends.


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

Siddhartha Mukherjee and Neil Gaiman.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

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

37. Who did you miss?

The 'me' I was before 2019.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

T, maybe?!


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020.

This, too, shall pass.


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

"...In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade,

And he carries the reminders

Of every glove that laid him down

And cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame

"I am leaving, I am leaving"

But the fighter still remains, he still remains..."

Thakur pujo

 In a year of unrelenting, bone deep, breathless grief, I've discovered that  NOTHING hits the spot quite like Robi Thakur. From wild, untamed sadness to the gritty melancholy -- he has a song for everything. I've spent more hours listening to his music in the past one year than I have in my life. As the world burned, his quiet words soothed as nothing else could. Let posterity record that collective Bengali grief always turns towards this man for relief.

https://youtu.be/6K97zuGWXY4

"একক অখন্ড ব্রহ্মান্ড  রাজ্যে,

পরম এক সেই রাজ রাজেন্দ্র রাজে।"

2020

 1. What did you do in 2020 that you’d never done before?

Ahahahaha. AHAHAHA...What can I say. Survived an unprecedented global pandemic and saw our global descent into fascism?  

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


 No, and no. Resolution, shmesolution. Who has the time when the world is ending?



3. Did anyone close to you give birth?


Yes! First core baby. :) 

4. Did anyone close to you die?


Yes.



5. What countries did you visit?

None.  


6. What would you like to have in 2021 that you lacked in 2020?

An effective vaccine, dear god.



7. What date from 2020 will remain etched upon your memory?

18th March, because that was the day I started working from home, expecting this weird new disease to go away in a couple of months. And well...it's now January and I haven't been back in the office since. And also 29th August, because that's when we came back for good. 


8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

• Not dying.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Fucking up my mental health. 


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Yup. Typhoid and fractured ankle and slow descent into madness.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Rajdhani first class tickets to Kolkata.


12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

Mine. And sporadically S'.


13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

EVERYONE'S!


14. Where did most of your money go?

Books and Swiggy. 



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


Moving back to Kolkata.


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

Jano kichu mone koro na...

[https://youtu.be/o1v3z2EUgcM]

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

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


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

Walking around Delhi roads when I had the time and opportunity.


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

Work.


20. How will you be spending Christmas?


I spent Christmas drinking coffee with D and then driving around Kolkata with S. It was a good day. 


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

Shallow Hollows


22. Did you fall in love in 2020?

Nope.


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

None.


24. What was your favourite TV programme?

This was the year I discovered Korean drama! While the world died around me and I stayed at home for months on end, I wore my mask and watched impossibly good looking people having complicated lovelives and ridiculous problems. My favourites were 'Crash Landing On You', 'Because This is my First Life' and 'Hospital Playlist.' 

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


Can't remember.

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

One of the most distressing things about this extraordinary year was the fact that it took away my ability to read. I spent hours doomscrolling on my phone or just staring at the ceiling, but couldn't bring myself to finish books. Reading has always been my go-to method to relax, and in a year when I needed it most...I just couldn't. Anyway, all this to say that I didn't read much, but I DID discover Georgette Heyer. Her 'Why Shoot A Butler' was easily the most heartwarming thing I read in a year full of heartbreaks.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?


Akhilbandhu Ghosh. 

28. What did you want and get?

To quit my super stressful job.


29. What did you want and not get?

Peace.


30. What were your favourite films of this year?

I truly cannot remember a single movie I watched this year. I do recall rewatching 'Asa Jawar Majhe' with S, and being struck by its deliciousness anew. Does that count?

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

I was 32. Was just recuperating from a nasty bout of Typhoid, so couldn't eat anything but boiled rice and eggs and idli. But had friends over, fed them good food, and lived a little vicariously. So that was good. This was right before the world shut down,  and thank god for that.


32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
 
A little less 'unprecedented' events please. It sucks to live through history. 


33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2020?

Aha. Ahaha. AHAHAHAHA. I gave away half my wardrobe before the cross-country move, and have solely survived on pajamas for a year.

34. What kept you sane?

Cats. 


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

David Tennant. Neil Gaiman. Riz Ahmed.


36. What political issue stirred you the most?

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

37. Who did you miss?

EVERY one. EVERY FUCKING ONE. 

38. Who was the best new person you met?

No new person was met. Everyone stayed put in their homes.


39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2020.

This, too, shall pass.


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

Aur bhi dukh hai zamane mein, mohabbat ke siva,

Raahatein aur bhi hai, vasl ki rahat ke siva...