Remembering the decade gone by

I'm sitting at a customer location in Phnom Penh, pondering over my inability to keep blogging regularly despite the fact that I do seem to have ample time to procrastinate everyday. Pathetic! I say to myself only to be drowned in the ocean of mental lethargy that seems to be filling me up over the last 2 years. Enough of gloom!

There are much reasons to be cheerful as a new decade dawns on us even before most of us are left scratching our heads on where the last 10 years went. A short flashback on some of my memories on the decade gone by:

2000

• I began my career in June 2000 at Indus Networks and the memories still very fresh in my mind. The very first time I saw the ATM spitting out my very own bank balance (Rs. 10000) and really dint' know what to do with so much money!
• My first experience with the Internet, Yahoo Chat, Google.
• I bought my first two wheeler (second hand of course) for a mind numbing Rs 3400
• The nights of fun, frolic and beer with friends in Hyderabad
• The first encounter with WAP and the mobile mania
  

2001

• Got my first passport on Feb 13th
• Boarded my first flight , an Indian Airlines flight to Bombay from Madras enroute to Germany. Mom dropping me off at the airport and I still remember her face , proud that her son was joining the great big bandwagon of desi's marching towards a better future outside India
  
• My first visit abroad to Germany in March. I remember pinching myself to remind me that this was not a dream.
• First taste of German beer and my first visit to the Oktoberfest and the resulting worst hangover of my life
  
• My first soccer game
• Visit to Rome, Venice and Pisa, Brussels and Paris. I was living my dream!
• My first cell phone, a neat looking Sony (forget the model) and my first call to dad and mom telling them about my purchase.
• Working on the first GPRS capable devices
  

2002

• Moving to Munich on a work visa for 3 years
• Got my first camera a Canon EOS SLR
  
• More football games and my first (of nine) visit to the fascinating Neuschwanstein Castle
• The first time I was away from friends in family for more than 3 months
• Feeling snow for the first time!
• Bought my first Walkman (a Sony Discman) and first DVD player
• Second visit to Paris
• Going around Europe
• Windows Mobile 2002
  

2003

• Don't seem to remember too much here except that it was a year where I worked on an average for about 14 hours a day and spent well over 25 full weekends at work
• My first visit to Switzerland
• Birth of my nephew Thakkai Paya!
  

2004

• My very first house (or was it 2005?)
  
• My first trip to the United States and Portugal
• My very first trip to a Formula 1 race at Hockenheim
  
• Gaping at the magnificent Grand Canyon and trying my luck at gambling at Vegas (eventually ended up losing $30)
• Picked up my first Xbox
• Bought my first camcoder
• Cousins wedding celebrations in India
• My first iPod
  

2005

• Getting married and my first honeymoon
  
• My fifth Oktoberfest
• The project with SWM (Stadtwerke Muenchen)
• My first iPod Nano
  

2006

• Losing my job at Aventeon and subsequent closure of Aveteon just 5 days after I had returned back from India
• Moving back to Bangalore getting a job with Sabre
• My first trip to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Thailand
• Shattering news that my father had cancer

2007

• Wife's battle with depression and dad's continuing battle with cancer
• Trips to Mauritius and Jeddah
  

2008

• The worst year of my life - losing my beloved father and wife
• Working on the JetLite migration and first trip to Vietnam
  

2009

• Coming to terms with my everything life had thrown at me and accepting the hard truth
• Trips to Indonesia
• Finding solace in god and nature
• My very first digital SLR
• First trip to Angkor Wat
• Working on the Vietnam Airlines migration
• My first iPod touch
• Seeing a tiger and the elusive Lion Tailed Macaque in the wild for the very first time
  

Wow, certainly not a boring life! There have been so many highs and lows that have shattered the very fabric of my being. But if there is one lesson I have learned from the decade gone by it is that life has to move on and I realize with each passing day that the only person in control of your life and destiny is the almighty and I can only thank everyone in my life and the almighty for making me the person I am today.

What changes will the new decade bring? I hope they are positive and bring about peace and prosperity for every living creature that calls this wonderful planet its home.