The title was shamelessly altered and copied from a english movie I like much. So how is the christmas and new year celebrations going for me. To be frank, it sucks. This is the worst christmas and the new year I ever had!!!. It was really boring. I kept watching movies back to back from morning to night for past 3 days including the new year. I am writing this post from a swedish dungeon at evening 4 pm and its really dark and cold here. Did you note that, 4pm!!!! This is one big reason I dont like this place much, the darkness. The nights are very chilly, the wind is very aggressive, and it is very lonely. The sea here is dead calm (almost land locked) with almost no breeze. The dominant color in the nature mostly becomes yellow towards the end of summer when the leaves start falling. It reminds me of downfall and depression. When the leaves are totally out, the trees look totally lifeless. Nature becomes totally void of emotions But I should say that the swedish people are very kind, honest and noble. Its fun to talk with them. I guess, maybe I miss my home really bad.
2011 is possibly the most dramatic of all the years in my life to the date, personally and professionally. 6 months of it were spent in a foreign country, I found (read as rediscovered) some one with whom I have fallen in love and have to decided to share my life with (more on that in a later post), and most importantly, I learned a lot, again mostly personally and a bit professionally. Now this last statement is something I always make every year. But believe me, this time it is really big. (even this, I repeat every year 
). I happily say to myself, I am a more matured man than I was in the previous year. May be this is what life is all about. The twists and turns, the surprises out of the blue, those tiny moments which you wish to last for an eternity, those even tiny moments which you wish you never existed. Its really funny. In the end, you learn a lot. I love my life and love to be what I am.
Last 6 months in sweden was like a wake up call. I got enough time to ponder over many details of my life which I never cared about. I tried to learn about God, which was a futile attempt. I am still a spineless atheist. I tried to learn how to play piano (online), another futile attempt. I tried to read platos philosophical ‘Republic’, never got past 20 pages. Its something one should read in the evening of their lives when they have nothing else to do, not in the dawn. I tried to learn cooking, and I figured out I cant even distinguish the simple vegetables. I took 10 hrs to make 3 chappathies. I am the most horrible cook one can be. I became a non vegetarian(again) which I plan to change back after going back to India (though my mom is angry about that). I am going to miss some of the swedish food here. I bought a new laptop which am already loving like the previous one. Few days back, I visited a museum. They have brought up a ship which was lying in the sea floor for about 300 years!! and set up a museum for that. The care that the swedes take to preserve their history and heritage is amazing. Our culture and civilization is more older and richer than them. Still we dont give a damn, do we? . I would say this was the year, I became more close to my mom. Probably because of the geographical distance between us. Now we are very good friends, more than that mother-son relation. I guess you learn more about people you love in their absence. Sweden was a total experience. I love it because I would not have learned more about me if I had not come here. I hate it, because I want to go back. :):)
Let me just give an idea about how the first half of the 2011 went out. The first 6 months of this year was not as eventful as the others. My comprehensive exam, (something every phd student should take in iisc) was on March 30th and I cleared it. Soon I applied for a visa at swedish embassy delhi , and waited for about 3 months!!! This 3 months were spent very well. I spend 1 month of it with my family. I went out to visit many of my friends in different parts of south India. It was really good. The first 3 months were mostly spent on preparing for the comprehensive.
So thats how 2011 went for me. A really eventful year!!
