A customary annual post

December 20, 2025

A customary annual post

By the time I concluded my milestone b’day last year on the rustic roads, quad biking, my mind was already conjuring a cauldron of sketchy adventure ideas. With some concerted effort, I arranged them to a little verse - an ambitious target to be achieved between two Sydney summers.

I waded on the sea floor and dove from the sky.

I drifted in an air balloon high up in the sky.

That’s not it, I climbed up Harbour Bridge,

To behold my beloved city bustle beneath my feet!

Best not to construe me as an adrenaline junkie; in fact I can’t be more adventure averse. But something in the Aussie air whispered in my ears that these are unmissable, and a pertinacious drive with my partners in crime (son and his dad) transmogrified this text to actuality.

When mustering every iota of courage fell short in keeping my knees steady at the edge of the ladder leading to the depth of seabed or tip of the fabled Harbour Bridge, reiterating these lines calmed my nerves. Finally, I’m raising my glass to the rarity of these moments.

What else did I invest my year in? Well, not everything is brawn bound! Several Insta posts, especially those of Bhavesh Yuj and The Sanskrit Channel, were my muse in memorising three atrociously will-defying stotras. It’s a delight to look back at the recordings and paintings that came by through weeks of frustrations, deliberations, and perseverance. While my spouse lent his patient ears to the torturous tedium of my practice recitals, my son either padded away rolling his eyes, muttering under his breath, ‘there she goes again’, or chucked challenges, ‘how about reciting 9.5th verse of Shiv Tandav followed by 18.5 of Mahihasur Mardini’, his eyes naughtily dancing at my struggle putting the pieces together!

I'm grateful to God's grace for painting my year with layers of colours - those from my visit to my dearest cacophonous Kolkata, jaunt to Kumbh Mela, soaking in the sensational Heart Reef, seasonal maples in the fall, canola and jacaranda blooms in spring, and of course the inevitable blues of summer seas.

Keeping magniloquence at bay, I'd just journal our short sweet celebratory trip of white-sand beach hopping around Jervis Bay through the quiet images that'd articulate the beauty of this area more efficaciously than the regular lexical adjectives.

It was humbling to wrap up a wonderful year with invaluable warmth and wishes that friends and family poured throughout the day.

What’s next? With my adrenaline appetite slaked, it’s time to get back to basics, I believe. Looking forward to a year of health, and happiness!