review 2023

10 minute read

January

  • shifted to Bangalore
  • setup first home with wife (stuti) and thoroughly enjoyed putting meaning to things
  • connected back with the most important teacher couple in my life. Should have done this earlier, it was a small misunderstanding which made us lose some precious years where we didn’t contact each other.
  • attended sankranti in Ahmedabad and tried my hands at kite flying
  • travelled to Udaipur for wife’s friend’s wedding.
  • travelled to Indore again to attend close friend’s wedding.
  • i have become famous for ordering mcdonald’s food in wedding after parties and I am proud of it. I am open to paid gigs @mcd
  • travelled in first class train compartment for the first time in my life and loved it.
  • went for a 60km cycle ride in Indore without any plan and enjoyed it
  • attended Republic Day ceremony at mother’s office and loved it.
  • got myself a pink suit. It looked exactly as I thought it would & then wore it in many weddings. High Fashion.
  • tried Kunafa at Kunafa Story Kormangala and loved it.

February

  • got a big mirror for dressing
  • got some furniture made, study table etc from local shops
  • invited cousin brothers for dinner, met one of them after ages
  • signed up with a nutritionist/coach for a year. Needed to gain some muscle.
  • travelled to Chennai for a friend’s sister’s wedding. Stuti had come to drop me off at the train station, I took her along. 1st AC penalty + fare is more expensive than flight fare, but it was all worth it.
    • rented a bike and travelled to Pondicherry
  • got viral and fell really sick. Got 104F fever.
  • travelled to Guna for wife’s friend’s wedding.
  • met a friend in Bangalore after a long time on his birthday, had much fun. Listened to some original songs.
  • tried skating in Cubbon Park
  • went to MAP Museum near Cubbon. It’s commercial and boring.

March

  • started my fitness journey more religiously (after recovering from bad viral fever)
  • played Holi in society and realized that holi is the perfect festival to see the real nature of an otherwise polished people.
  • setup a stall in the society flea market where we tried selling wife’s digital art & some masala coke. Artists must prepare for a hard day when they sell their products. As most people don’t value art well.s
  • attended multiple flea markets (soul sante & others) and also spent a lot in clothes shopping.
  • started climbing. tried going weekly but didn’t go more than 5 times in the whole year.
  • got a good barber on Urban Clap, haircut issues sorted.
  • tried a reels challenge with wife & caused her a sprain. now we just stick to sharing couple challenges reels
  • travelled to Goa with Stuti (her first goa trip). More details on Goa Diaries blog.
  • marchtee sale was on, so spent way more than I had planned.
  • started taking more random pictures to ensure I create more memories

April

  • started with a trip to Mumbai to meet wife’s college friends
  • climbed a rope on a tree with local kids, they were fascinated with my abs
  • watched the moonset at the marine drive, with wife and thousand other people (because Mumbai)
  • struggled with sleep for close to 20 days or so
  • visited jaipur for a friend’s wedding, I realized that I really struggle with food in Rajasthan. I am not a fan of the cuisine (probably it is the lack of eggs)
  • visited my niece in Pune. Don’t refrain from talking technical concepts with kids, they might enjoy it.
  • if you are in Pune, you should order Alphonso from Malpani Mangoes atleast once (it’s quite good)
  • went to write club bangalore after a long hiatus. Good fiction writing is a difficult & rewarding skill to have
  • attended India’s first skating disco. It was great for photos and videos but overall, not as fun as it looked on camera
  • took two besties out for dinner, realized we should do it more often. Atleast once every quarter (but that didn’t happen for the rest of the year)
  • travelled to Nepal for brother-in-law’s wedding
  • did a work out at the edge of the mountain with the view of the Himalayas
  • went to a dance bar in Kathmandu spent 30 seconds and walked out

May

  • sprained my neck while doing high reps lateral raises. I hate neck pain
  • bought new pair of shoes for mother, her most expensive pair till date and absolutely love how she wears them
  • took a diet break for a week. Realized that I do not enjoy dirty eating anymore. No significant negative impact on the body composition though
  • started meditating and doing wim-hof. It didn’t last long, I sometimes feel very anxious after meditating.
  • sleep was still poor.
  • watched NBA playoffs quite regularly, I absolutely love the tactical game that the coaches play
  • sleep got a little fcuked again because of NBA playoffs
  • yoga nidra is quite useful for sleeping

June

  • got medical tests done. LDL levels came very high, consulted a cardiologist and looks like it is normal because other things are in check and this is genetic.
  • took a day off from work and just whiled away my time in the city, my favorite kind of day
  • travelled to Pune for Didi’s birthday
  • watched a play for the first time in life, it was Manav Kaul’s “tumhare baare mein”
  • got published at the PFCs transformation tweet. Shredded, with abs and shiz.
  • randonly went to meet a friend at her office along with another friend. Had coffee and it was fun.
  • Travelled to Thailand with wife for her birthday
    • chickened out of an island trip because of motion sickness
    • watched zindagi gulzar hai through most of the flight journey
    • had first muay thai session, might pursue this in future.
    • saw a water monitor up close in Lumphini Park in Bangkok
    • met a stakeholder whom I have worked with for long for the first time
    • didn’t follow diet for 5 days straight

July

  • gifted wife a jhula that she wanted for a long time
  • had a day out with friends on a saturday where we went to Sharon Tea for the first time together
  • hosted friends for dinner and lunch mutliple times this month
  • started bulking, abs would vanish by the end of the year.
  • sleep was quite good, I was waking up early around 7:30am without any alarm
  • watched Mission Impossible and had dinner at Sagar
  • went out with friends to Chikmanglure for my birthday. I slipped the next morning and injured my sacrum
  • mother fell sick one morning and that made me feel a little helpless. I want her to be closer to me.
  • talked to an old mentor on phone
  • finished a course in writing by Amit Varma. Found it too expensive for the value it delivered.

August

  • friends gifted staedler pencils and some cool games.
  • visited Van Gogh experience and thoroughly enjoyed it
  • started quest to buy a two wheeler. It started with Activa and then shifted to Bike
  • sat on a Kawasaki Vulcan and went 110KM/Hr on Hossur Road in the evening
  • tried Lavonne Cafe for the first time. Quite Fancy.
  • spent a day in Old Bangalore. Visited Thom’s bakery, Church Street, Koshy’s
  • tried r/showerOrange trend and had fun with it :P
  • visited Sharon tea on a weekday with Stuti and a friend. Then went to Thom’s
  • learnt thin Omeletes by Adam Rageausea
  • visited Indore, a random plan
  • spent time talking with a childhood friend. Dicussed about his business and potential strategies
  • attended independence day flag hoisting at mother’s office
  • got an expensive and yet bad haircut in Indore
  • talked a lot to my childhood teacher (life mentor) about life and many things that we never touched upon before
  • got side adjusted pants - made bespoke. High Fashion.
  • got dumbbells and resistance band for mother
  • travelled to Pune in a train
  • travelled to Mahabaleshwar with Family (sister’s family, mother and cousin brother) for Rakhi.
    • This was the first family trip and we had massive fun
    • mother did a trek and was happy with her fitness progress.
  • Celebrated Arya’s (neice) birthday

September

  • got a new bike. Royal Enfield - meteor 350
  • went on first bike ride with wife.
    • saw a gruesome bike accident just outside the apartment.
  • tried Navu Project. Dessert was good, everything else was average
  • celebrated Ganpati. Wife made eco-firendly ganpati at home and I made the mouse. It was fun.
  • got some cane made laundry bag and lighting
  • mother visited us in bangalore for the first time
  • had a great plyo workout with basketball shooting. Loved it.
  • visited national museum of modern art with mother and wife
  • went to Sharon, commerical street and Burma Burma with mother and wife
  • went to Ooty on a roadtrip with mother and wife
    • did visarjan in a lake on the way
    • celebrated mother’s birthday and talked to her a lot about her life and childhood
  • got a huge financial stress for a few days because of fraudulent transactions on my credit card.

October

  • started a goal to type faster and started practicing and recording. Reached 60 wpm from 45 wpm
  • fraudulent transactions got reversed and I was finally at peace
  • got stuck in rains while coming back home from Indiranagar, it took me >2.5 hours. Felt so cold on the bike that stopped in between and ate thukpa at Yak Kitchen in Kormangala. Tastiest thukpa ever.
  • stuti found out a momos place in kormangala and it was great. The aunty even serves chicken soup with it
  • watched Ind vs Pakistan with Avani. We had a fun weekend. Watched silence of the lambs as well
  • upper back got fucked again, I must stretch more. I haven’t stretched at all.
  • travelled to Calcutta for Pujo
    • visited pandals, had food at Peter Cat
    • visited Olypub
    • tried different Kolkata Rolls
    • got a yellow taxi pic
    • didn’t follow diet for 4 whole days.

November

  • left for Indore for Diwali
  • made Stuti join me on a short notice of 2 hours and picked her up from office directly
  • helped in diwali cleaning and then suffered from allergy
  • played basketball one on one with an ex-national player (from my school)
  • played basketball at the club regularly. Realized that I don’t practice anywhere close to what they do.
  • went to Bartan Bajar on Dhanteras and a loading rickshaw banged into my car from behind
  • met Mam and Sir and got sir enrolled with a nutritionist.
  • went for a walk with Aura (sir’s daughter) and discussed Israel & Palestine issue
  • burned firecrackers on diwali. Got a fancy firecracker that I used to see from far away as a kid, as mostly rich kids used to fire it.

December

  • attended bangalore literature fest
    • met masalalab and loved it
    • saw shashi tharoor, he has a paunch, I had no idea based on what I had seen on TV
  • went on a roadtrip across Kerala with Stuti to celebrate our first wedding anniversary
  • visited KL and really liked spending the two days there
  • ate Laksa. I like curry Laksa at Ah Cheng Laksa more than their Asam Laksa.
  • friends visited us for Christmas, had lots of fun
  • went for go karting and bowling. scored highest in bowling
  • i really liked reading more about go karting and how people optimize paths
  • went out to meet a friend who has been working in Japan for last 1 year. Absolutely love spending time with him. We met as teammates in my first job.
  • learnt persian style saffron rice and ice-cream from friend’s fiance
  • celebrated new-year’s with friends, played card games
  • fell a little sick in the last week of the year
  • watched many movies, as I should in december

Some other highlights:

  • easiest dance to perform in weddings is “oh oh jaane jaana”
  • played regular badminton with friends, I don’t like racket sports, but I like hanging out with friends. If you want to cardio, select a sport, treadmill gets boring after the initial burst of motivation fades off.
  • i might have missed updating meeting a childhood friend who visited from US, I spend less time on digital mediums when I am with him
  • mobility is an important part of fitness, I suffered from days of pain because I didn’t do mobility or stretching routines.
  • tried the most expensive chai of my life at thirdwave @ the Bangalore airport when I went to see off mother. Sad to report that it was delicious
  • tried naru noodle bar and didn’t like it at all. It’s all hype and no substance (I have had better ramen at local restaurants).
  • cooked singapore rice and it was great
  • visited nasee and mee multiple times
  • experimented with cooking a lot (part of life now because of the fitness journey)
  • some noteworthy recipes
    • chicken with orange sauce
    • andhra chilli chicken
    • chicken burritto
  • won the society basketball tournament (performed well). All this fitness shiz I have been doing really worked