Good Bye 2008

As I bid a goodbye to the year 2008, I was thinking about the highs and lows I came across in this year. Choosing one of each was like a situation in an interesting test match (like a recent one between India and England in Chennai) where a number of players come up with good performances and you have to chose one whose performance was not only good but also was the deciding factor in the out come of the match.

So when I was thinking on the good things that happened, quiet a few things came to my mind like shifting to Bangalore, the trip to Europe, growing up of Romir but what took away the crown was the moment when I came back to India after a 52 day international trip. I had missed Diwali and Dussera during this trip. But when I reached home at 3:30 AM at midnight, I was emotionally choked to see my house lighted up with diyas, done by my wife to say that Diwali is not about a day but about being together. Also as soon as I entered home I tried not to make any noise to not wake up Romir but it was like he was waiting for me. He woke up on his own as soon as I entered and played with me for an hour. This was definitely the most touching moment for me in the entire year.

And when it came to the contrary, there were not many things that came to my mind. Maybe because of my nature of being a hopelessly optimist, I try to forget the unhappy incidents of my life ASAP. But there was one thing that lingered in my mind and was not easy to forget. It was the image of 2 year old Moshe, the son of the Israeli rabbi was parents were killed in the Mumbai attacks on nariman point. The sight of that sweet innocent kid not even aware of how his life has changed completely shattered my faith in humanity and frankly also frightened me. The obvious thought came to my mind, what if.....probably this is when you have to leave it to god. But I am sure Moshe will get enough love from Israel, India and the world that he will never miss his parents.

So that was all about 2008. I am very hopeful of 2009 for myself, my friends, family and the whole world that we will have better times ahead.