2010 in review

As I think of the perfect adjective to describe 2010, "busy" is the word that comes to my mind. Whether the "busy"ness yielded positive results is something time will tell. As for 2011, my plan is to live a much more conscious life - the moments lived and captured and not wonder later how the months went by.

The review list below is for my own tracking as I've been doing for the past 5 years. So you can skip reading the rest.

Getting my PGSEM degree from Mr.Mukesh Ambani during IIMB Convocation was a memorable moment

Converted my final year project into an IIMB working paper 

First time working in a start-up kind of environment. Lots of releases and action packed year it was! Good learning experience.

Attended the inspiring TEDXChennai event, it was my first time attending a TED event

Made a presentation at product camp Bangalore on "Product Positioning". A nice feeling to see my topic as the top voted one

90% of my commute this whole year was through BMTC buses. A tiny fraction of an effort towards conserving nature

Switched from Windows to Mac. Awesome experience so far though I miss MS Office 

Visited Delhi after a long time on an official visit. Brought back memories of my final trip with mom years ago.

Attended workshops on Creative Writing and Organic gardening

Started composting organic waste using Daily Dump Kambha. All the vegetable waste from my kitchen is getting reused

Did not eat Lays and Kurkure chips for the whole year (Yes, this deserves a mention!)

More tweets and very few blog posts. Need to get back to writing next year

Fell in love with Zynga games, especially Farmville

Visited 3 new places this year - North Wayanad, Coorg and Swaswara

Books I read:

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

A walk to remember by Nicholas Sparks 

The High Performance Entrepreneur by Subroto Bagchi

A Grasshopper's Pilgrimage by Manjushree Abhinav

Six Thinking Hats by Edward Debono

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Bottom Up Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout

True Believer by Nicholas Sparks

Crossing The Chasm by Geoffrey Moore

A Genie's Wisdom : A Fable of How a CEO learned to be a marketing genius by Jack Trout

Keep off the grass by Karan Bajaj

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (second time read)

Books started to read but not yet finished:

The Long Tail : How endless choice is creating unlimited demand

The Choice by Eliyahu Goldratt

Linchpin by Seth Godin

Leader who had no title by Robin Sharma

Inspired by Marty Cagan

The last lecture by Randy Pausch

longing

My contribution to Sunday Scribblings - #246

foggy winter mornings,
distant rhythmic hymns
early morning routine
clear objectives at hand

purple and pink flowers
plucked fresh from December bushes
strung in a crisp, white thread
a symmetric, neat garland

a notebook filled with designs
translated into distinct shapes
frontyard neatly decked
adding life to different colours

praise the devotee
one poetic verse everyday,
offer sacred leaves
bless us, Oh Lord Krishna!

longing for the last month
the fragrance, the colours,
the music, the memories
vividly etched for years

P.S - #1 In India, we have a flower named December. These flowers blossom only during this specific month every year.
P.S - #2 December is also special to worshippers of the Hindu Deity, Lord Krishna and his devotee, AndaaL.

My guide

My contribution to Sunday Scribblings

It was the first day of my second year in Engineering. Having accepted the fact that my dreams of pursuing medicine as my career option is impossible, I decided to approach Computer Science Engineering with rigor. But the first day turned out to be a nightmare. I heard my classmates pursuing programming courses during the summer holidays. Many of them already had a computer at home. They had familiarized themselves with Fortran programming (Yes, we studied Fortran in our 3rd semester). I came home, feeling utterly depressed. Having been the class topper throughout school, there was this sinking feeling that I was way behind everyone in college. 

I came home after a depressing first day. I clearly remember she was in the terrace that evening, preparing for some exam related to her promotion in insurance sector. She noticed the dullness in my face and called out to me. She had been the pillar of support during my school days, always encouraging me to perform well. Like water gushing out of a dam, I poured out to her - all my frustrations and doubts. "Aunty, I have never even seen a computer in my life before. I don't even know the basics. I had taken up Biology in 11th and 12th grade. My classmates already knew programming and they even have a computer at home. My dad will not be able to afford one. I better quit Engineering and join B.Sc.", I sobbed for a long time in front of her. I don't think of her as my neighbour and neither does she. We share a special bond - a mother I found in her after so many years. The next 2 hours turned out to be one of the most precious moments of guidance, mentorship and above all, caring love. She sat next to me, wiped away my self-doubts with her caring and powerful words and helped me take a positive stride towards Engineering.

Over the next few weeks, I was so scared to enter Computer Lab, worrying that I might break its functionality. But her words were my only support that helped me climb the ladder in Computer Engineering. Looking back after 11 years now, without my guide, I'm not able to imagine how my career and life would have turned out to be what it is today. It also brought a smile in my face, comparing those days when I was dead scared to step into Computer Lab and switch on the Compaq desktop and now when not a single day passes, without me spending a significant time in front of my Mac laptop.