Yesterday I went to a showroom to buy a second AC for my house and that is when I realized how much life and things around it have changed in a decade. In this digital world, a trend. social movement or a hashtag spreads faster than the forest fire. Recent trending is #BlackLivesMatter. Few others in recent times were #metoo, kiki challenge, ice bucket challenge, black and white photo, 10-year challenge, etc. So the 10-year challenge - in this we were to upload our recent pic along with a pic 10 year back. Preferable with same people/environment. Back then I didn't take the challenge too seriously and didn't search my gallery for the past memories. Yesterday, something hit me and I took a break from everything to reflect back on my life now and 10-12 years back.
I say 12 years because 2008 - was a big year for me. I got admitted to an Engineering college and moved to a new house. 2008 was also the year when terrorist strike Mumbai - Taj, CST, Trident hotel. 2010-2020 is 10 years and this can be equally divided into college and professional life. from 2010 - 5 years were spent in college and the next 5 years in Mahindra. As usual, let me drill down to some important areas of my life worth highlighting.
Health is Wealth -
2010 - I was in the 3rd yeard of Engineering and health was ok. I was just about healthy but not involved in many outdoor activities. I used to play occasionally with my building friends and I also went to join for a year. Then there was a break for a year and finally, I was in heaven - IIT Bombay. There is a different level of energy there - acads, sports, extracurricular - etc. After a year I picked up running to improve my fitness and gradually my stamina increased. It took me three more years of training to complete my first full marathon. Even in my wildest dream, I wouldn't have imagined running a marathon, let alone a sub-5-hour marathon. Things were good and I had never been fitter. In Chennai, I used to go for a 60-80 km long cycle ride every weekend. In past years, I have reduced my running and cycling distance. This year particular has been tough to be disciplined and I have gained some extra pounds around my waist.
Bumsonsaddle - Cycling -
2008 when I moved to a new house, I left my old cycle back. In Engineering there was no time or need for me to cycle. In 2012 I moved to IIT and I bought my first geared cycle there. It was a decent 18 gear hybrid cycle. IIT B has many ups and down - in acad and on roads - so the gear was necessary. 2015 - I moved to Chennai for work and in 2016 I bought my first road bike. I used it to commute to the office too since the office was only 4 km away. Main purpose of a road bike was to prepare for triathlon and also stay fit. It was no geared but helped me get used to the posture of the road bike and I learn how to maintain your own road bike. In 2017 I bought my first geared road bike and it was so light and fast. So the point of the cycle is just to highlight how a simple thing like cycle changed its shape over the 10 last 10 years. I mean we don't plan that in the next 10 years I will have three cycles or I will run a marathon and then give up on it. Who does that?
My residency -
2008 - New house. I got to enjoy it for relatively less time. In 2012 I got into IIT B and then it was part-time home and part-time hostel. It was quite fun though, enjoying the best of both the worlds. Then the biggest game-changer was my placement in Mahindra and Mahindra. Again - something I never imagined - I never imagined I would be moving out of Mumbai for work or for anything else. I have learned one thing in the last decade - A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. I changed a couple of flats there. All were spacious three BHK. The area is some 50 km away from the main city and so it was easy to build spacious houses. It was the first time I moved out of my comfort zone and it wasn't easy for a couple of months. Thanks to my batchmates and flatmates there - they made the transition less painful.
Pocket Money - Stipend - Salary ---
Those were the days in school I used to get pocket money for a month. I used to use that for my fun stuff and at times save some for parents' birthday or anniversary. Never knew how easy or tough it is to earn and save money. There was no government eating into my share of pocket money. Then again IIT - I was a research assistant and got a good amount of stipend. I remember buying a pen and purse for my parents with my first stipend. This continued for three years. There was a stipend hike in between and my the end of my IIT term my stipend was 15k/month. 2015 - Mahindra and got my first paycheck - I can't express in words the moment I received my first salary. 2015 - 2018/19 I was more into spending mode. Its been just over a month I moved to a savings mode.
Bike - Car --
Just a couple of more topics and I will wrap up. In 2010 we had a TVS scoot and that too it wasn't put to much use. In Mumbai, the main mode of transport is the train and the bus. There was no need of buying a car as such and that is how things went on. Then in 2015 I bought Activa - first powered vehicle I bought from my earnings. I bought it for my birthday and gifted it to my parents. It is not being used much. In 5 years it has covered less than 4000 km. I mentioned earlier that I used the cycle to commute to the office but there was an urge to buy a car. Just a sudden urge. Also, I wanted to make I feel good that I can buy whatever I want with the salary I get. I bought Alto 800 in 2018 and that was the starting point of my weight increase :P
We're going to Ibiza -
2012 was the first time I traveled by air - this was for IIT Kharagpur interview round. Next was when I moved to Chennai and since then I have traveled numerous times. I was also lucky to have got the opportunity to travel to Malaysia, the UK, and 5 other countries in Europe in the last 3 years. Let me not go into the details here.
The Air-Conditioner --
In 2010 there was no AC in my house. In fact, didn't feel the necessity back then. Yesterday when I went to buy the second one it just hit me how long I have come from a decade back. I started my blog in 2010 - another decade.
Post in the comments about your biggest 10 year change.
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