#1 Happy New Year

Tuesday, January 1st, 2019

Thane, Maharashtra

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2019. Here you are. I had been waiting for you for quite a while now. I don't know if the wait has been worth it or not but as you unfold, you will tell me, won't you?

Brush away old heartaches. Learn from our mistakes. Another year is finally over. A new dawn awakes.

The New Year Eve was nothing special. It was like any other evening. Chanchal, my childhood friend had come to Mumbai and invited me to the party. I declined the invitation owing to the fact that the timings were not convenient for me to return back to my house in Thane.

Sunny and Anoushka at Mahindra City

There was one thing though which wasn't ordinary. I finally decided, maybe too late but nevertheless, that the baggage of 2018 had to be left in 2018. My friendship with Anoushka Ghosh was probably the best time of my life, while it lasted. But all good things have an end, and we were no different. It had become untenable. I've tried enough to resurrect the life out of it but alas! Although, one thing I would state very honestly, that I don't have the slightest feeling of animosity. It's because she has helped me grow as a person, while she was there and more so when she isn't. I hope she does extremely well in whatever she does and always remain happy wherever she is.

I am really thankful to Namrata Ghosh and Ayon Chatterjee who took care of me like parents during that vulnerable phase of my life and I am gonna write a lot about them all round the year because I share my room with Ayon and you can't keep Namrata away from Ayon for too long. You just can't. Not since they became best friends in 5th grade. Meanwhile, Aditya Gehlot has always been at a message's distance and is always ready to listen to my rants and non-sense. You know, just recently, there has been a re-entry of someone who was always very admirable because she dated Aditya Singh Gehlot of all people. For those who know how weird Adi is, it's amazing. But nah, he is very cute as well. And that's why I love him and he has been my best friend for seven years now, probably longer than anyone. Oh I forgot to tell who that "someone" is. That person is Pranjali Sahasrabuddhe a.k.a. PJ a.k.a. PS a.k.a.

A game of Jenga with Pranjali

Pingu. Never did I think we will become friends again after their breakup, but destiny has weird twists and turns and that's what really keeps the life interesting. It has just been a start of an association with Pranjali and she's a very relatable person. It is obviously because we hail from same city, same Maharashtrian middle-class background, speak the same language and have been raised in same culture. It was absolute fun meeting her on my trip. That trip has been a big eye-opener. Earlier, having lived in Chennai for close to three years now and with the kind of people there, I used to think high profile and extravagant life was tailor-made for me. But when Pranjali used the adjective 'plastic' for describing a picture of my life in Chennai, only then did I realize how 'middle class' I still was. It reconnected me from my roots again. It made me thought how privileged I am right now in my life. I can go to all kinds of fancy food outlets and buy tonnes of clothes but ultimately I should be true to myself. Pranjali is a very down-to-earth and very much a Maharashtrian middle class woman in how she conducts herself and I can relate to her more than any of my other friends. I really hope our friendship lasts long.

This New Year has also been about two people who make appearances in my life only at family events otherwise. I got in touch with Aditya Pradhan and Siddharth Sangamnerkar, my two paternal cousins who study in the same college in Bengaluru. It is also worthwhile to note that Aditya studied in same school as Pranjali and ASG and they know each other pretty well. We chatted continuously for more than 3 hours and planned something, details of which will be kept a secret until execution.

So yeah, New Year it is. New groups formed. Some old people disconnected. Some old people reconnected. Some like Aditya Gehlot just stay there for year after year.

Happy New Year and Cheers,

Sunny