Adieu 22: Creativity & Connections. Conflicts and Dilemmas.

I have written so much copy (for which ad agencies hate me), sms and subject lines that punchlines are second nature to me. Since this is the 2nd last post I wanted to write about year 22. What did it stand for me? In appraisal we always wanted to put our best foot forward during the time of appraisal because we knew that this will be top of mind for the appraiser - it’s a different matter that some of them had an elephantine memory and dug out all the skeletons from my cupboard and laid it bare. 

For me these are the 2 things which stood out this year.

Creativity: 

With the available of time I explored various things which I always wanted to:

• Painting, I loved the process of drawing a painting, how the lines get formed in a white page then slowly it takes shape and finally the colors give it a life of its own. It's the nearest I have come to be a creator. I have a long way to go so 23 will be a year of finding my rhythm and style in painting.

• Photography, thanks to my continuous travel across hills, grasslands, beaches, lakes I explored it to my heart's content, using my phone. Sometimes the pictures and story come fused and at times while you are editing the photos a story form like the shots i have shared above. 

• Cooking is the area which i dabbled into but more in the area of exotics like non-veg dishes but I tried making simple thing like bhindi, louki, beans poriyal also lot of interesting non-veg like chicken, dry fish etc, Next year I want to try seleti food for which ingredients may be a challenge - let's see. Well baba is an inspiration in this case - he brought Assam to where he stayed.

• Directors from across the world and their thinking and style and storytelling. It’s a fascinating world. Thanks to MUBI and Jai who conducted these film meetups during the year where he shared his encyclopedic knowledge on movies.

• Long List of post retirement reads: Harry Potter & Tolkien is in process. GOT is in the pipeline.

Connections: 

I met a lot of people during my family trips. My first creative partner to my relatives, mama’s mashi’s and their families. Youngest (2 month old) to Oldest (82 years old). It was a lot of fun making these connections and looking at life from their eyes. Guiding some for a better job prospect or someone who is looking for a job. Sustainability crusaders in Assam and Delhi and Himachal of course. Talking to unknown people in flights, trains, taxi’s - cab drivers to cooks. The net take out was that you need to just step out with an open mind and a world awaits you. But you have to take the first step. I am happy I did that.

This is a big challenge: Conflict Management

This is still the biggest problem all around me. Hindutva/right wing led conflicts in India, border conflicts with China. Burma, Pakistan, Ukraine - Russia war will be 1 yr on 24th Feb. Human vs Wild, Corporate vs nature. The list is endless. How does one read/see news these days? I don't. But you can ignore what’s happening around the world but what about your locality and your home. It’s difficult to ignore the increasing gap between have and have nots. 

We want to help but we are tied down by various things - inertia being one of the most well accepted reasons. We all enjoy living in the bubble and I am no different. This is a challenge I am trying to overcome as I find it too messy - Not sure I want to get into it.

& Lastly this is the big Dilemma

Dilemma of the year is the choice between middle path vs fanatic. The people whom I met in sustainability are fanatics in a positive way. They are OK in starving vs buying something in plastic. They think, do, eat, breath sustainability - whereas I am a preacher of the middle path. I think that's a more balanced way than going fanatic. I am happy with the choice but progress is slow, you  tend to take the easy way out and don’t look for solutions. When you are pushed to the wall, you don’t have a choice. But do I want to go extreme ?