365 days later

A few days ago, I completed living a year in Bengaluru.

This is the first city where I've spent this long, away from home.
There are new things and new friends I've discovered here.
I am loving the city, and still exploring it, and occasionally looking out from the balcony at night to observe the dark outlines of buildings with colored lights dotting the sky and concrete.

Among all the noise of big obvious things, there are the few little truths that you find out, the little decisions you make about things, and the little realities that you accept. In this post, I'll go through a few of these little passages added to my book of experience.

1    On attaining perfection
Planning is good.
In fact I plan a lot when it comes to side projects, new learning etc. I plan so much so that in the end all the time and space is consumed on making plans.

Okay, Planning is starting to look bad...
It felt like a bit too much of push when Chris Guillebeau kept talking about starting your plans 'now', in his new book. But this is one of those things you learn the hard way.
It is preferable to get started with an actual tent than living in a castle made of plans.

This doesn't mean you have to forfeit your perfectionism!
Understand that Attaining perfection in a work in progress is different from Awaiting perfection in the conditions and environment to get started with a work.


2    On spending
I am no expert in this topic to authoritatively quote Warren Buffett and pretend that I actually understand it.
But here is a thing or two from experience.

Ask whether you need it. How frequently will you use it? To what degree will it make your life better?
Don't end up spending money to add clutter around you.
Even after this simple analysis, if your mind and/or heart keeps telling you that you really *need* this expensive designer watch in addition to the two you have at home, go for it :P.
Because once in a while, it is okay to gift yourself something pretty.

On a related note, it is worth spending a little extra cash on things of quality, beauty, and reliability.
In the long term, you can only gain so much by saving too much on essential things, or by selecting cheap and disposable alternatives.


3    On space
Clearly, then, the city is not a concrete jungle, it is a human zoo
~Desmond Morris

The essential realization I had about space in general and personal space is that, the two are becoming almost the same at various levels. The world is getting crowded.

When I first traveled from Kerala to Bengaluru, I had in mind this image of a bunch of people in different clothes, speaking different languages, going to different hang outs.
Then on the foot path, a couple pass me by, speaking in my native tongue.
I go to an event, and a lot more Keralites pass me by, chattering away in Malayalam or English (with the unmistakable slang).
A friend and me go to try out a new café, and a gang of Malayalees are sitting around on bean bags, shouting and joking in Malayalam. For a moment, I felt like sitting in a small town restaurant back in Kerala.

Population is increasing. The same space is being claimed by more and more people.
Real estate prices are shooting to the sky. Desmond Morris is right. You can't have everything.
Learn early to focus and be happy about other finer aspects of life.



4    On flavor
It's all subjective.
I continue to find Pani Puri not that great, and continue to have debates with the lovers of this food.
Ditto about pizza in this city. In fact, the hometown mock up of a pizza we used to laugh about every time seems at least ten times better in taste.
The mere smell of Chilli Bajji makes me run away from the eating table.
In brief, I've been having a hard time with the native food.

That being said, non-veg continues to be mostly universal in taste.
And learning to cook is quite handy in bringing back the homely feel of flavor.


5    On love
There are a lot more people in this world than you imagine there are.
No matter how unique your tastes are, there is someone, or more than one, matching the pattern.
It'll be surprising when you discover it, but it is a fact.
For everything else, start working now. For love, keep an open mind and let it happen.
Love will find a way :)


10 comments:

  1. That was a nice way to sum it all up!
    :) Best wishes for your upcoming adventures and the most amazing rendezvous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Miss.K, hope you're doing great in your new world :)

      Delete
  2. Et!!! One year l make u learn a loot more than this :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roshan, as I said in the beginning, I was only noting down the finer details ^_^

      Delete
  3. Ah, i spent money on clutter.... Gosh, my house is a mess and i am thinking seriously to throw away my collection of comics and bric bracs.

    Hello et!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shadow, welcome back to blogger!

      I think home makes us lazy in our decisions, thus leading to all kinds of clutter :D

      Delete
  4. Liked everything!!! But right now I'm really confused about the love thing.... what's going on?????

    :brow

    ReplyDelete
  5. hey!!! looooong time. hope you are doing good. and if you are wondering who this mad woman is trying to be friendly (out of the blue) with you, this is me, poor me... a great fan of your blog and for unfortunate reasons, was in hibernation for sometime (approximately for 3 years).

    ooopsss.... forgot to mention (I always mention first things last) - it was an awesome post. me too a bangalorean, can't agree more with you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.

    ReplyDelete
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