While I was away .........

A trip home always takes time to recover from, especially if it's your only one in the year. But this time it was different.

For starters, I spent Christmas sleeping on the train while passing through Andhra Pradesh. Even Jesus seems to have had enough of me & my shenanigans.

Second, things haven't been this bad on the personal front for a long, long time .... maybe ever. And stuff seems to be on a steep downward spiral. Mummy's facing health issues she never had before. Jolly's facing frustrations of his own and took major convincing to make the trip home. Dad's sense of loss over all that has happened in the last few years grows more acute by the day. Yet he soldiers on like he always has, saying little & expecting even lesser. And to top it all, we are in the midst of this. 2008 has been one forgettable year.

Chhotu though, brings the sense of relief that is so greatly desired at times like these. Looking at her best I've ever seen her in winter, it was great to see that advancing age has not affected her spunk. Thank God for small mercies.

Arrived back in B'lore on a chilly morning on the 3rd. Strangely, it felt good to be back from home. Sid's whole family was put up at our place & the experience was surreal to say the least, especially since this had never happened before at #77. I mean, there were people to talk to before leaving for & after coming back from office. There was tea being served in cups. The kitchen was actually looking, and smelling, like a kitchen ought to & yes, there was hot home-cooked food for dinner. Alas, it lasted but a week.

2009 hasn't quite got off to a rocking start either. The very 1st week saw this all over the news. Makes you wonder what lies next. Combine this with reports of layoffs in the tech industry getting shriller everyday & the sense of insecurity seems complete. Indeed, every new day on the job seems equal to a blessing.

Watched a few movies after coming back, including the year's most hyped - Ghajini - and found it to be exactly that - hyped. Slumdog Millionaire was interesting.

There were a few car launches around the new year too - Hyundai's i20; Mahindra's Xylo and Fiat's very elegant Linea. Tata's Nano is rumoured to be breaking cover on Republic Day. But I'm in the market for a bike & right now it's the Hunk that's caught my fancy.