2023 reflections

LIFE :

My New Year’s Eve began with a very elegant six course dinner served with coupe de Champagne Taittinger Brut followed by the Red wine Chateau Tour Leognan 2016 ( Pessac leognan) at the very chic Victoria restaurant of Hotel Bedford, Paris. And then we walked on the Champs Elysses to bring in the new year at the Arc de Triomph with a million people from across the world, witnessing the most beautiful fireworks in the sky.

When I got back home that week, I had a TEDx lined up at IIT Bhubaneswar. I was very happy, grateful for everything. I was on top of the world and then it all came down crashing in three days after that.

I got a phone call from my sister that Ma was on ventilator in a hospital and with no hope of revival.

Rest as you know, led to a long year of unknown grief. A lot of trauma hidden in the body not just from this unmeasurable loss but past wounds thatI ignored or fought hard to pretend that they didn’t exist, came out pouring. They led to pains I had never known and sicknesses new to me.

I started to go to the Hare Krishna temple since my son started an internship with the Akshay Patra Foundation and something began to shift within me, with the spiritual alignment. The grief I had in my heart turned to growth and a deeper faith in the almighty and now I see grief as an expression of love.

"Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place" -Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

TRAVEL:

I did travel a lot this year. Travel always gives me peace and clarity. My most beautiful recalls right now are from Maldives where I swam with the gentle giants, the gorgeous Manta Rays.

The other memory is a couple of days spent in Rishikesh doing yoga by the beautiful blue Ma Ganga.

The most unique that I did this year was a week at Vrindavan-Mathura. It was like being in a time capsule to a different world. I had lost track of time, days and places. I did two long Parikramas( long walks). One of 11km and that day it hurt my feet perhaps because I haven’t walked that much in strong sunlight but after one more day I did a 23km Parikrama around the Govardhan Parvat and during this one my slippers broke so I ended up walking bare feet. It didn’t hurt at all ??. No body pains or fatigue either.

I saw so many groups of people singing, dancing in large groups and it was beautiful to sing along with strangers. It was a different zone altogether.

Among the yogis, tourists and devotees marching for the lord’s Parikrama, there was a group of women from a rural region in Lalitpur, UP.

I saw how content and happy some people were, who owned almost nothing. I saw people following different paths of devotion trying to reach the same destination of Bhakti and love for the lord. My first ‘teerth’ was an explosion of spiritual grace and joy.

"Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times." — Martin Luther King

I was fortunate to attend the Platinum Jubilee of my father's unit in Kanpur along with my sister who is a serving officer in the Indian Air Force.

I also attended a cousin's wedding and met my extended family after a few decades. Perhaps losing both parents made me crave more for the connection with my roots and I feel closer to my ancestors and the living treasures now than I ever felt before.

PROFESSIONAL GROWTH:

My happiest recollections are from the slowing down and spending more time meeting friends, senior leaders and old bosses who have been life long mentors and reflecting on my own journey and plans ahead. The most enjoyable assignments for me were the sessions at IIM Trichy, IIM Bangalore and some coaching assignments that I did for some executives and who accomplished their career goals as a result of our engagements.

PUBLIC SPEAKING :

I spoke for Google India, Bangalore at the International Women's Day for Women Tech Makers, TATA Steel offsite at Udaipur was another memorable talk among many others like Citi, Walmart, HPCL, Embassy Group and many other amazing corporations. TEDx talks at IIT Bhubaneshwar and Atlas Skills University among several other amazing forums at SRM Chennai, MNNIT Allahabad, BITSoM Mumbai, Pycon India Hyderabad and GDC Pune.

2023 was the 'year of belief' for me. It tested my faith and perseverance and I am a better, kinder person as a result of everything I faced this year. I am grateful for the growth that came this year and look forward to a meaningful 2024. My heart is full.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy." -Dalai Lama

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2024 and I hope each one of my Linkedin family discover their true purpose and makes the most of this beautiful journey called life. Have a great career and life in 2024 ! :-)