With the year having already passed……and a month more, I know this is late but the meeting of friends after 30 years, did not realize the time flying past!!!
Another year has come to an end, the last week more hectic then ever, with a full month of fun frolic, friends lined up.
Some thoughts stray & otherwise that made 2008 what it was…..
January, a month that I normally look forward to with zest, started quietly enough. An article Essential Skills for 2008 written served the tone for the year.
February, begins with my daughter quietly, silently, pointedly, & finally stridently, pointing out her birthday. It was also a month spent in Ahmedabad, an old haunt for a family occasion, where besides meeting old friends, reviewed a lot of restaurants. It was also a month of cold evenings & hot manoos creating a ruckus.
March, a month of sadness, when quietly, professionally finally parted ways with my employer, though there were a couple of battles still pending.
April came soon enough. I also decided to take some time off…with the personal thought “I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same as making a ‘life’”. A lot of other thoughts, words of wisdom, mottos, followed that still bring a smile. There was also the No Honking Day which as a concept is alien to Mumbaikars and Strike that soon fizzled out.
May began with a Reunion, IPL, some thoughts on Time Management & ending with thoughts on Inflation. A month of driving down to Baroda & Ambaji, meeting friends again. It was also a month, when health problems reared up its head, with torn ligament and others scheduled soon…..
June was a month of frustration, with health leading the way….the torn ligament ensured 3 weeks of complete bed rest, followed by a small surgery. But the good thing was catching up with friends who have been doing well for themselves, glad to be in Bombay. Besides this my daughter participated in Shiamak Davar & Terrence Lewis Shows for the umpteen time:)
July was a month of rest & recovery, but the fuel prices went up, received email on comparisons & thoughts about fuel, India’s Sam Bahadur died, a close friend turned 50.
August, regaining a bit of mobility, started off with a couple of consulting assignments, that left enough time for my family responsibilities & living life. Amongst observations on business, retail, retrenchment & finally iPhone the month flew by.
September saw me spending some more time on my assignments, where a fair amount of discussions & execution led to some thoughts, views on Loyalty & CRM; Brand Ambassadors; building value for a brand; the real winner. There were also the Retail Jewelers awards. Amongst all this managed to catch A Wednesday, finding it refreshing.
October - an extremely eventful month, full of festivals of course. After a long time had a MNDFCK meeting. Enjoyed the Highs of travel to Baroda, Ahmadabad, by train after a decade. Catching up with friends there, having friends over, attending TiE with Bela. Amongst the Lows, Havoc in Indian Markets, Recession, Retail in Gujarat, Lehman Brothers, Stock Market, bad meetings et all. There was a flurry of emails, text on everything related to this. However my musings, more particularly post Divali says it all.
November came with its share of Post Divali Blues. With doomsayer predicting severe Recession; refreshed the mind watching movies - fashion, EMI, buying books on the net, reading Rashmi Bansal’s Stay Hungry Stay Foolish . An interesting finding on Branded Jewellery finally ended the debate with a client this month. And whilst I wanted to conclude the month with Warren Buffet’s thought & India is still shining; the events of 26th November overshadowed everything.
December, normally a month of enjoyment, with whatever little chill Mumbai has, parties, waiting for the year to end began with a lot of passion, anguish, fervor, cries, texts, rally, demands, questions against terror, voting rights ; with assistance from Media of course. Listening, thinking about all this, melancholy creeping in supported by my birthday, absence of wife, but supported by friends as always.
The NDTV initiative amongst other aspects that I personally felt strong about led to meeting of like minded souls, initiating Citizens4Change with no particular insistence to begin with but try to be the change in your own small way. Come 20th December & everything was normal, party plans were being made albeit not high profile, the word resilient was bandied around as usual, whereas the fact is “We are resilient by force not choice” and the year wound down to an end. A small note in Business India made me happy as one of my idols had agreed to my thoughts.
2008 was a good year, extremely eventful & a CORRECTIVE year. I wish that 2009 is exciting in a more positive way, with India’s GENext leading the charge & focusing on implementation of their myriad dreams!
Jai Ho!