The last couple of weeks have been rather eventful and not the good kind. My father contracted typhoid in early December and despite repeated tests, he wasn’t diagnosed. Two weeks ago, he developed complications and had to be hospitalised, and naturally, blogging took a back seat as I rushed from home to college to hospital. I am looking forward to catching up now that he is back home now and recovering well.
One thing on my list for FPP in 2013 has been better interaction with all you lovely folks. So, if there is anything you want me to write about or a particular destination you would like to see photographs from, just drop me a line. Comment on the blog, message or post on the facebook page (link in the sidebar) or hit me with a tweet and rest assured, I will follow up. 🙂
I leave you with the photo of this inscription I encountered on the mosque inside Purana Qila (Old Fort) in Delhi. Unfortunately, I do not know what it means. Let me know if you do!
I wish I could have managed to get a better picture, but it was too far and there was only so much I could do with a kit lens. I’m planning, or rather, hoping, to buy a new lens sometime. Let’s see if I can manage to save/salvage enough money. 🙂
I’m not sure how I feel about 2013 yet. That I spent last night of the year in bed and writhing in pain did not help matters. The only worse New Year’s Eve I can imagine was the Millennium Eve. On December 31st, 1999, a benevolent neighbour chose he is going to celebrate by hitting me in my left eye with a cricket ball. As a result, I was told I might lose the eye. To welcome the millennium thus was scary. It took about a month and a half for the injury to heal, but thankfully my eye is still intact; there were absolutely no permanent effects from the injury.
Darn, I digress. Here are some pretty pictures to make you forget that gruesome detail.
I am a firm believer of the healing nature of time; I am all for moving on. It is, in fact, usually the easiest thing for me since I’ve always been an escapist and I took it to a whole new level in 2012. Running away from it then would have been a simple matter of not writing about it. But 2012 was my baby and I would like to chronicle it lest I forget.
There is no doubt that the Mayans ruled last year. The skeptic in me knew that the apocalypse bit was a whole lot of nonsense, but now that 2012 is gone and so is the promise of this world ending anytime soon, I am a little disappointed. 2012 promised fireworks and failed to deliver them, and even though it ended on a rather disappointing note, it was an interesting year for me personally. Milestones were achieved, risks taken, the self discovered.
And now I just want to dwell a little.
January
Faces Places Paces was launched and off to a great start.
Meanwhile, I headed off to the Jaipur Literature Festival with Mihir. Some great shots were captured. They eventually found their way on to FPP and Facebook and my world was a better place.
I finally got to meet Amritorupa who blogs over at Rivers I have Known and The Bea’s Knees, who I have now known for close to three years. Funny how you can be close to a person without ever having met them. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love blogs.
February
The birthday month was everything it should not have been. Some of my dearest friends forgot the birthday altogether, I spent the day in a lot of physical pain as my body decided to rebel on the special day.
I tried some macro with a regular kit lens and was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Off to a lousy start, February did not improve as a very dear friend found herself in a tight spot and I spent the rest of the month stressing over the situation. But it was the shortest month (one day too long though; darned leap year) and I’m glad we saw the end of it.
Oh, and this happened:
March
This was a surprise month. Comparatively quiet, it became a real blast towards the end as I was called to present my paper at a National Conference in Chandigarh. The trip was a welcome change and despite its hectic nature, I returned to Delhi rejuvenated.
April
I finally received my birthday gift. This is just one of the four Hogwarts House Pens that I received. You have the right to be jealous.
Also, my cousin got married and looked quite dapper. My kid brother looked better though. I have proof.
In other news, my juniors graduated, and looked rather remarkable at the ceremony. (April was the month of good looking guys)
Cherry on the cake: My poem was published in the poetry anthology Indus Valley
May
There was a lot going on in May. In the first half of the month I had my semester exams. Instead of studying linguistics I chose to indulge my creativity and designed these memes. Needless to say, they were a hit.
Later in the month I attended the first ever Delhi Blogathon and ended up featuring in press here and there, including Deccan Herald. Oh, and I got an Evernote t-shirt for sharing my forgetful experiences with the audience. After I got off the podium, I realised I had lost my lens cap. Still, best free t-shirt I’ve ever received! (Oh, and I found the lens cap in a pair of boots three weeks later. Honestly, it’s one big mystery.)
June
I can now say that June wins the award of best month in 2012, hands down. Here’s a list of reasons, why:
1) My best friend returned early from England and gave me a huge surprise. A nice little reunion ensued.
2) No more exams!
3) Indiblogger and Spice gifted me a Spice Mi-425. My first Android device… which, turns out, I cannot use because I have fat fingers. I passed it on to Kalrav on the condition that he will not ask me to buy him a birthday present. It all worked out quite nicely.
4) My longest-ever (and the first overnight journey alone, by train) solo trip materialised and perfectly so! Heck, it even included a chance encounter with a cute stranger in a coffee shop. I did take his picture, but since I never really took his permission to put it up on the blog, I’m afraid I can’t do that. 😦
Photographs from the trip can be found on the blog by searching for the Bangalore tag.
July
I fell in love with Shane Koyczan and spent the rest of the month in a daze. Actually, that is applicable for the rest of the year.
August
I attended my first wine-tasting. Fantastic setting, good wine, great bunch of people 🙂
Ninjas showed up.
Kalrav’s birthday was celebrated and I didn’t have to buy him a thing. (Refer to June above)
Oh, and kite-flying on Independence Day!
September
To be honest, September was utterly lackluster. When I wasn’t busy studying for my exams, I was busy helping my brother with his. Result? By the end of the month, I was officially in hibernation and practicing this:
October
My hibernation continued in October and with reason as we embarked on an ambitious project: renovating the house. I had thought of doing a before/after thing while the renovating was on, but completely forgot to take pictures. I have nothing to show you. 😦
November
The month of Diwali and fireworks, of loads of shopping and hibernating when not assisting the Festival Nazi-mom.
December
Even more exams and then some, followed by a half-hearted visit to Rajasthan for a cousin’s wedding, and an eye-opening Black Dog scotch-tasting event. Some last-minute party plans were totally washed over by a terrible cold I developed at the last minute. Consequent cancellations resulted in a NYE spent in bed. Sigh.
That’s all, folks. That was my twenty-twelve.
I know I only speak of the good, the happy, and all the exciting things in this post, but 2012 was equally frustrating, depressing, and disgusting as well. I spent a lot of time mulling over the past, then some more ignoring or running away from it. I finally gave up, locked myself in the room, donned pyjamas, watched chick-flicks and ate my feelings. I had but one resolution at the beginning of the year and I couldn’t see it through, but atleast I tried. I tried and therefore no one should criticize me. Hidden SNL and Dan Radcliffe references aside, twenty-twelve was a fun year made bigger and better because I had FPP. I returned to blogging after some setbacks and you guys made everything special. There is no doubt that the blog kept me going and no matter how much I thank you all for that, it won’t be enough. I just hope you stick around. 🙂
Faces Places Paces 