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As a customary ritual,
I've been reflecting on the bygone year during its last days and deriving
important lessons from it. What could be a better act for walking through the
memory lane than documenting (it alongside)? This year was no less than a
rollercoaster ride for me. It’s going to be a nostalgic moment to recall all
events that happened in my life and for having been survived different phases
of uncertainties during that time. So, here I dive into my flashback and retrieve
all my memories.
The new year 2021 got me an opportunity to appear in the interview for the course that I had applied for. I also tried my luck in two competitive exams which did not turn out in my favor. What is destined to happen will find its way and what’s not, won’t happen in any way. All my failures have taught me to explore options that I am born for as aptly stated by Dalai Lama, “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” I met my best friend after a long time and got quality time to spend with her. It was during that time I started applying for my VISA to go to Hong Kong where my husband had been living for the last couple of months. I did not have any strong plan then to go to Hongkong as it all depended on the allowance of flights by the HK govt from India to HK, I made preparation to go to my native place to spend some time with my family. I stayed at my in-law’s house for a month where I celebrated my first marriage anniversary. I got to know my in-laws better as it was for the first time I got such a long time to stay with them after my marriage. Soon after that, I got the news of charter flights going to HK from Delhi and I had just a week in my hand to plan everything, right from booking tickets to reserving a quarantined hotel in HK. You can read more about my Quarantine Story here: my-quarantine-story-of-21-days.
After my quarantine got
over , I was ecstatic to meet my husband after 6 months and so was he to meet
me( I guess so :P ). He had managed a lot last year from traveling to a
foreign country during the pandemic to starting everything all alone. I acquired my
HKID card which was essential to revoke a hefty medical bill that was the
result of my treatment of COVID at the hospital in HK.
My pre-birthday eve was
well spent watching symphony of lights(a musical light show) in the Tsim Tsa
Tsui Promenade, followed by a treat at an Indian Restaurant. Not many days after
my birthday, I got unfortunate news of the demise of my grandmother who was
battling with COVID. All the memories of moments spent with her flashbacked in
my eyes. She was bedridden when I left for HK, with a hope that next time when
I see her she would be hale and hearty but this did not happen.
I slowly started to
adjust to this new country, culture, and people. I started exploring different places
in this country on my own to be comfortable and get the feeling of being home.
Thanks to the very convenient public transport system and google map which
became my guide in this process. This exploration helped me, invariably, in my
job hunting. I would so optimistically apply for thousands of different
positions based on my skillsets in various job portals of HK and managed to get
interviewed for three-four recruiters. It was the fourth one, I settled for as
other roles didn’t appeal to me much. At the end of the year, I successfully
completed my probation period.
In the latter half of
the year, I witnessed another form of mine which was capable enough to manage
everything, getting up early in the morning to prepare breakfast, lunch for
work, commuting two hours for the job, walking 5-6kms daily including
climbing 600 stairs, I had never imagined that I could ever do this. My
husband always stood as a rock by my side, motivating me whenever I lost my
fighting spirit. During weekends, we would plan to travel different places and
I created a YouTube channel to document my travel experiences - Around
The Globe . There’s another YouTube channel-Swati Sarangi
I created for collecting my selecting recordings from Smule at one place [which
I wanted to do in 2020 but couldn’t]. As a part of my exploration, I visited
various temples such as SaiBaba temple at TST, Kowloon Hindu Temple, Hindu
Temple at Happy Valley, ISCON temple at TST and got a chance to celebrate various
festivals there and sing in the public. I felt to blessed to receive the token
of love from the Hindu temple, Kowloon. All these events transported me to
those days when I accompanied my mother to celebrate various festivals at Shiva
temple on the campus of IIT Kanpur and Jagannath Temple, Bithoor, Kanpur.
During my days of
quarantine, I had started learning German in DuoLingo App to ward off the
boredom which later became a habit. I successfully continued the learning
streak for 200 days and received the report of being in the top 1% of the users to
achieve this feat. I also started teaching English voluntarily to underprivileged
students of Odisha online. I got an opportunity to be part of online events
like Toastmaster HK and book clubs. I could complete reading 8 books this year.
2021 gave me myriads of
experiences to revisit and I could strike off many from my wish list like a solo
trip abroad, getting an iPad, working abroad, starting a youtube channel,
working with an NGO, being a local guide in google and starting a technical blog -Coding Concotion. It gave me the confidence to pursue
my hobbies and tap into my unexplored potential which I had always ignored. I
had to deal with minor health issues. 2021 exposed me to two spheres; where
there was an excitement of exploring a completely new world, there was an
uncertainty to return home and meet the family. It is how life is and the greatest
blessing during this phase of the pandemic is to be healthy.
Wishing everyone a very
Happy New Year,2022!
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All Rights Reserved
©Swati Sarangi
30.12.2021
P.S : I got late in
publishing this article which was planned to be published before the new year.
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