Yes, I know it is the 19th of Jan and it’s a tad bit too late but then again, it must be done. So before I begin talking about the stuff that defined, re-defined, fucked the shit out of 2015, let me just talk about one little thing that I bought towards the end of the year that kind of summed up the year for me.
After very little thought and much desire, I got myself some cool headphones.
Bose. Noise Cancellation. ‘Nuff said!
It was a dream in a dream come true for me and it’s literally the best friend I never had. So the point of the mention besides the obvious’ guess what I got’ announcement is that my ‘Bose’ became my escape. I could be walking down a road, there would be traffic, random people saying stuff I really didn’t need to know and then at the flick of a switch, it would all be gone. It would just be the music, me and the road ahead. Even though it invariably was a walk to office or a rather late night walk back from office or a drink, the world was lost in those few seconds.
That, in essence, was 2015 for me. Block out, focus and bang the music kicks in.
People close to me had much to complain in 2015 with me constantly enveloped in work and wondering when they would see my face. Must have been the winning company and not the face i’m guessing but self deprecating jokes aside, it was a phenomenon that was pretty constant. But in all honesty, it was a year, or the start of many which I had dedicated to working and building, what is possibly the coolest brand in the country right now. The endless hours were rarely a burden except for the few nights the coffee machine gave up on us, but otherwise, these were the moments you live for. In launching our Fashion range to working on some of the most exciting projects heads have been broken on, this was all my years of worshipping marketing could have asked for.
There were highs and the very obvious lows, surrounded by the rather hollow neutrals which seemed to be another constant when the adrenaline wasn’t pumping. There was also an abysmal 165 kms run versus close to thrice that the year before and what could have only been a miraculous 2013 that was so much more. So there were losses, but there was also a Design conference in Goa that restored my faith in the power of imagination and the overwhelming beauty of free alcohol. The concoction was rather exquisite. There were many trips to Delhi and Mumbai at which point I begin to lose focus, as I begin to meander to the crazy food I ate over the year. A gulab jamun filled with Old Monk, a 4 course Pork masterclass, a/many cigar smoked whisky cocktails, Parle G cheese cakes, Kheema and Butter Pav, Goan caramel tea, so much burjee pav, beer at Doolally, Hummus Samosas, lime air on Prawns, 7 different Egg Kejriwals, more bheja than the brain could take, Sathyam cheese/butter popcorn. Phew! And so much more. Guess that’s where the miles were lost.
2015 was also where I cancelled all the noise in my head when it comes to love, women and all that jazz. I guess I was the victim of over-thinking and over-evaluating it all. It’s where a part of me realised some pretty fundamental truths about what I had come to believe as love and attachment, sealed by the fact that loneliness is a state of mind and that when surrounded with great work, better food and amazing friends, there is a way around the pining, wishing, regretting and recycling the love.
And… for some new records. Most hours spent dancing in a calendar year since, possibly, well, a long time. Most variety of batshit crazy awesome food. Most time spent working in a single day, week, month, ever. Most time spent appreciating the beauty of Monica Dogra. Most time spent watching TV shows over movies which basically meant that Bollywood and Hollywood collectively sucked with Netflix and Amazon being the boss. Most time spent in debates over all things net neutrality, the Modi government, immigration, the Middle East and all that matters. Most time ever spent cursing Manchester United. Most music ever heard and most podcasts ever consumed. Most awesome highs and most mind numbing neutral states of abject loss to the world around me. That was 2015.
2016 will and shall be different. Not to repair anything about 2015, which was definitely awesome but to take things up another notch. There shall be more travel (Hong Kong and Barcelona baby and hopefully more!), more family, even more work, lots more reading (my precious Kindle is here) and a few unexpected twists which are more than welcome to make their way into what promises to be a rock(y)ing year. Time to put off that ‘noise cancellation’ a little more often and hear some of those noises again. They may not be pleasant but they sure be new. And that’s all the heart asks for..
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