New Year Resolutions

Hello Everyone,
Happy New Year 2018! I'm sure no one reads this any longer. So hi future me :D
2018 is here! Started this blog 3 years back. Wow! So much has changed since then. I was writing my undergrad exams when I started this blog. Since then, I've completed 2 degrees, gotten a job, moved to a new country and started living by myself in a new city.
I don't usually think a lot about new year resolutions; but I do like to make a list. So here goes -
1. Do yoga for 40 minutes everyday (started today! )
2. Make at least 3 new friends at work
3. Cook twice a week
4. Become more self assured - work on being more confident
5. Plan a surprise vacation for my parents
6. Think about marriage - probably in 2019 - so, talk to people, think about deal breakers etc
7. Get a good work scheduled figured out - now I work through the evening till late in the night while watching random youtube videos - end up sitting in front of the comp the whole day. Hopefully will split up work and free time later in the year.
8. Keep in touch with friends. Till now I would meet friends everyday in college - but now unless I make a conscious effort, I won't have any friends left. (Already feel it) Hope to do a better job planning activities, meeting friends and making new ones too!

These are all the things I can think of right now.
Bye!
- Shaya :D

Lost in the city

Hi All,
This is an actual dream (nightmare) that I had. It was so much like a movie, I thought I should write it somewhere. Here it goes:
I had got a job in Mumbai (a city I've never been to before). I arrive at a hotel where I was being put up before I start my job. The hotel doesn't look very impressive. I meet someone from the company at the hotel. I ask him about my role, what I'd be working on etc. and all he says is that the work is top secret and I'd get to know more once I started work. Then I get some cryptic text which looked like some task that I was being assigned. (I had to wake someone up staying at the same hotel). I'm very unsure about the task as it makes no sense. I go to the room mentioned in the message; the door is half open but I don't open it as I'm not sure about the task and if I understood the message correctly.
A little while later I meet a group of people all about my age who were also joining the same company as me. They all seem to know each other but I don't know any of them. They don't seem very clever (like people who might be hired for a top secret mission). I start having doubts about the company. They decide to go out for a movie and I say that I'd like to join them. We all go down to the lobby and then I remember that I'd forgotten my purse in my room. I don't ask them to wait as I feel that I don't know any of them well enough. I run upstairs hoping to come back before they proceed a long way. While running up I realise that I have just 100 rupees and a little spare change. A movie would cost about 100 rupees. Would it be worth spending all of my money on a movie? My card wouldn't work. Anyway, I decide to risk it and go for the movie hoping that sticking to this group might help me figure out something about this crazy situation.
By the time I come out, I don't see anyone from the group. I decide to get to the central bus station (hoping that they might have headed there). Another girl who was standing nearby comes and asks me if I needed help. I ask her the directions and she says that she was headed the same way. I start walking with her and she starts asking a lot of questions about where I studied, what I studied etc. I start getting suspicious about her and start asking her questions about her past. She gives me vague answers. I notice two huge thugs walking behind us. I panic a little and decide that I should return to the hotel, gather my belongings and quietly get away from that place. I walk with the girl back to the hotel but as soon as we reach I realise that I was being chased and I try to merge into the crowd. I loose my purse (with my phone and the little money I had). In a panic I somehow make my way to a bus stop. I see a friend (more of an acquaintance) on a bus. I jump onto the bus. I explain to her that I had lost all my belongings, my phone, money and was being chased by people who wanted to kill me. in my mind I'd figured out that they had hired me to steal my identity. The company would take my identity, use it to get a job for someone else (someone from the group I had met before) and then remove all traces of my existence (maybe kill me I thought)! My friend agrees to help. But she doesn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. She was on the bus trying to run away from home for a day to skip a test that she had to take the next day.
I was in that state of panic when I woke up. Was I glad to see my own room and my phone just next to me! Phew!
That was the story of my nightmare. I think I've been watching a lot of movies lately. Also, maybe it is the uncertainty about what the future holds. In all, it made for an interesting story to tell (knowing it was just a dream! Otherwise it would have been truly scary!)
Bye! :D
- Shaya

Life as an Adult (Part 2)

Hello everybody,
I posted the part 1 of this post a while back and had said that I'd be revisiting this topic. Here is what I've learnt about 'adulting' this year.
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about growing up and becoming an adult is- Responsibilities. I never truly understood the meaning of responsibilities until now; I'm sure I still barely understand it. Responsibilities are really hard to keep up with and fulfill. There are so many responsibilities and you can't skip any of them. You need to play multiple roles; take care of your money, food, grades, health, relationships, taxes etc. Missing out on any one of these could land you in big trouble. Sometimes you may need to pay attention to all of your responsibilities at the same time. It isn't like school where they distribute work throughout the semester. Although during exams, it feels like you have too much work, it is manageable. But when you are an adult, sometimes, it is impossible to do everything that is to be done; you just have to give up on some things and face the consequences. It is like an unfair game where there is no way to win sometimes. You just take the penalty and continue doing your best. The worst part is there is no fixed duration. If you have a stressful period, but you see an  end to it, you can motivate yourself enough to push through it. But it isn't always that simple. Just after you finish one set of things, you'll have a whole bunch of other things waiting to be finished. You need to make a conscious effort to take a break and let your mind relax too. If you don't do that and overwork yourself, you will be the one to suffer its consequences later. This is what I've learnt about responsibilities now. You'll always have more responsibilities to handle than you can; you just have to prioritize. It will again be you who has to face the consequences of missing a few of your responsibilities. So you just need to decide what consequences you are willing to face and what you aren't.
The next biggest thing about becoming an adult is getting freedom. Freedom to take your own decisions. It isn't all that big a thing. Being given the freedom to take your own decisions comes with its own price. It implies that you are old enough to be trusted not to take foolish decisions. As a kid or a teen, doing what you wanted to do was freedom. Your parents did all the thinking part. You never had to think about the consequences of what you 'wanted' to do. The general idea we have as kids is that parents set constraints on us and when we become adults, those constraints will no longer be there. So we can do what we 'wanted'. Now I feel that this is a big misconception. We had it easier as kids. We could be assured that whatever our parents let us do could not harm us in anyway. Now it is up to us to set those limits. It doesn't mean you don't have constraints. It is only that you willingly set constraints for  yourself. This is actually harder because you need to decide what is good for you and what isn't. This takes a lot of trial and error and you could end up hurting yourself in the process. As a kid, if you really wanted something desperately, you could fight, argue with your parents. If it wasn't a ridiculous demand, there is a very good chance that your parents would've found a way to let you have it. As an adult, if you really want something, but can't make it happen, you just accept it and move on. Situations act as constraints; you won't have a person to direct your frustration towards. Also, as a kid if you weren't allowed to do something you really wanted to, and if you cooperated, you'd usually be rewarded for it. Now, it is just the expected behavior. You won't have anyone give you a pat on your back or feel sorry for you.
A 3 year old would jump on furniture without hesitation. A ten year old would be much more restrained. Not because the 10 year old thinks that jumping on the sofa isn't fun. It is only because the ten year old probably fell a few times doing it and knows the risks involved. It is just the same growing up. You do get freedom; freedom to set constraints for yourself.
Adult life is pretty tough and boring. I'm sure I'll get better at it as I gain experience and I'll start to find ways to have fun along the way. But for now, this is all that I have to say on this topic.
Do let me know your views and opinions on this topic in the disqus section. I'd love to know what you think!
Until next time,
Bye! :D