It’s been a year already…

Ever since I moved to Swansea, I guess I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon and have been posting here only once a year (approx), which is sad really. Because so much has happened since we moved here and I could have kept the record of all the stories behind it if only I took some time to post about it. Here is hoping to do more in the new year.

2021 hasn’t been any different to 2020 to most and I am not going to add to the doom and gloom of it because we have had enough of that. I have kept myself busy with my post-graduate certificate course in higher education, started training in yoga (online), prepared two new courses when I had a break for a term, visited a few places (safely and within the permitted guidelines) etc. etc.

Now coming to the end of this year, I have successfully completed my PGCE and am now a qualified yoga teacher. I have already started teaching yoga to a couple of my friends and have been doing so for the past few months (online, of course). I recently finished writing all about my travels on my other blog. I have thoroughly enjoyed travelling in and around Swansea and making sure we take breaks whenever we can and as safely as we can. Neither of us is getting any younger but the year-long training of yoga has kept us in good shape. I should say that I have never been better, health-wise, than now and may long it continue. I have also never written so many essays in my life. This year has seen me write so many essays (both for my PGCE and for my yoga training). I think that is why I didn’t feel the need to write anymore in any blog. People are surprised when I tell them about the essays in yoga teacher training. Those essays have enabled me to read various classical texts on yoga and have given me a lot of things to think about and reflect on. It also reiterates the fact that yoga is an all-encompassing thing, a way of life, not just a physical exercise.

I have also witnessed a few heartbreaks, a few disappointments, a few sad events, but who doesn’t. It is part of life and growing up, I think. Just recently my nephew had a breakdown because he wasn’t happy with his Christmas present 😀 and he thought that Santa could have done better. I had to tell him that his message to Santa about his gift was very ambiguous and in future, he would do well to remember that ambiguity would lead to heartbreaks and he better make it super clear as to what he wants.

At work, after being together for almost three years, slowly things started to change as and when folks moved on to better prospects and I ended up finally identifying who my friends are and who are just acquaintances and I am glad for my friend’s circle, which is very small but very good. I also had a good term recently where a very difficult module was totally redesigned and there were no tears. That is a huge success in my book. Even though I wasn’t super happy about going back to face to face teaching this autumn term, we did it and touch wood, no one got ill during the term. We maintained social distancing, face masks, letting people learn from home when they had any slight symptoms etc. What the next term is gonna be is anyone’s guess at the moment. All I know is I am ready for both online and in-person teaching and I have managed to keep the learning experiences similar-ish either way.

Another year without any choir to attend (not even an online one like last year) which is sad, but at least we were able to visit a few churches and see their nativity displays and enjoy a couple of Christmas markets. This is the first holiday where I haven’t been working or even thinking of work. All I have been doing is relaxing, doing odds bits and pieces that needed to be done at home, doing my regular yoga, and finishing some last-minute books for this year (according to GoodReads, I have read 130 books this year, which is quite good) etc. Just chilling out really.

To top it all, I have finally been offered a teaching job back in India in my hometown which I would be started during the next academic year (Indian academic year). That means that we will be relocating to India next year, which is going to be very exciting more for Mr M than me, as it would be like going home after a very long break I guess. The move might not be as smooth as it was when I moved to the UK as it was just me then and this time we are moving as a family. There will be so many things to sort out and on top of it I would have to start my work without much break, but I guess I deal better when I have things to do and Mr M is more than capable of dealing with the admin stuff anyway. My nieces and nephew are quite excited about my move back and are looking forward to it very eagerly.

This virus is not going to go away any time soon. It is in their nature to mutate and spread and then mutate some more and spread again. It is their cycle of life, just like we have ours. Having seen the worse of it in 2020 and then some in 2021, all we can ever try and do is be safe ourselves and ensure that we protect our near and dear ones as much as we can within capacity. Some things are beyond our capacity and control especially, how the governments behave during such a crisis (I am trying hard to not get political here), but we should do what is within our control and capacity and get through this together. I am getting my booster jab today and Mr M has already had his a couple of weeks ago. Here’s to hoping that these boosters help along with some common sense.

Looking back, this year has been jam-packed with loads of learning and travelling and the new year is starting with new opportunities and new experiences. Let’s hope and pray that it is all for the best.

May this New Year bring with it hope, health, and happiness to all of you. Keep smiling and keep spreading joy wherever and whenever you can. Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! Happy New Year! 

Feels so good

This is one of my new favorites, even though the song is old. My Zumba instructor uses this for her cool down and I just love the song and the choreography that goes with it. Its both sexy and soothing. Difficult to combine those two while doing a cool down.

Here is the song and its lyrics, for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday 🙂

Lyrics from A – Z Lyrics

“It Feels So Good”

You always make me smile
When I’m feeling down
You give me such a vibe
It’s totally bonafide

It’s not the way you walk
And it ain’t the way you talk
It ain’t the job you got
That keeps me satisfied

Your love, it feels so good
And that’s what takes me high
Higher than I’ve been before
Your love, it keeps me alive
Thought I should let you know
That your touch it means so much
When I’m alone at night
It’s you I’m always thinking of

Oh, oh, baby

Oh, i want you to understand
How I feel, deep inside
Oh oh, you make me feel
All I need to feel
Yes, in my heart

Your love, it feels so good
And that’s what takes me high
Higher than I’ve been before
Your love, it keeps me alive
Thought I should let you know
That your touch it means so much
When I’m alone at night
It’s you I’m always thinking of

Just some random stuff

1. I hate that the tip of my nose keeps itching everytime I start driving my two wheeler, thrice this week in fact (helmet mandatory here and I have one that has a visor which when closed is difficult to open using one hand while driving). Its really very irritating. 😮
2. When we tried to not hit the cow that was in the middle of the road and swerved my car to the right that is when the calf thought we were playing with it and came bang right into the right hand side of my vehicle, denting it a bit, also scaring everyone inside the car because we all thought , for half a second, that we killed a calf until it started running along with the vehicle. 🙄
3. As kids we are used to not listening to elders and to do exactly what they don’t want us to do. So I told my 2nd niece (going to be 3 yrs this year end) that she will burn her fingers if she touches the burning lamp. (See how I did not ask her to not to do anything, but just told her the effect of that action). She promptly went to the room where the lamps were kept, and when no one was looking  did something god knows what and came back running that her finger tip was burning. Kids! 😡
4. During the training, of all the times my instructor had to look at me was when I was seriously yawning after the lunch session and even went ahead and asked me if there was a problem, with a plain face that I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not. I had to made some excuse of wondering about something related to the topic (with my mouth wide open…yeah, right!!!) 😳
5. First time ever (or as far as I remember), my folks told me that I look healthier, now that I have lost a few inches and weight, instead of complaining that I ain’t eating properly or I look sick now that I have lost weight or any such dramatic statements. Felt good to hear that my effort pays 😀

Here is one song that we workout for and I like it a lot. Feel free to dance to it and Have a great day ahead.

So near, yet so far

We had a training session for a week for which employees from other buildings of my company also attended, along with some customers too. It was for 5 days and I had one person from my team, so I sort of had company. If that happens, I usually avoid talking or interacting with anyone else except may be when they start the conversation. During the last day of the training, when I was almost ready to run out of that place (the training happened in a god forsaken part of the city, which I don’t like), suddenly the woman who was sitting next to me that day turned and smiled and told me that my copper bangle which I wear in my right hand looks very nice. Out of the blue, hearing a comment like that in a technical training session which is about to end in another hour or so, I wasn’t sure how to respond. So I did the usual response thing, ‘Thank you’ and smiled back. That got her talking.

She was telling me how she joined the company a few months back and how she is liking it and asked me how long have I been and was surprised by the answer and all that stuff. After a few more questions from her related to the company, the teams , the overall performance, the usual monetary benefits that employee enjoys etc etc she asked me from which building I came from and when I told her my building name, this is how the rest of the conversation went.

She: Oh my god I am from the same building, but I haven’t seen you there even once .

Me: Really ? (my hint at sarcasm with a surprised expression got lost on her :-< ) May be because I am hardly in office. Mostly I work from home and even if I come I wont be seen out of my cubicle much.

She: Is it…They allow you to work from home just like that.

Me: Well, I was injured and couldn’t walk so they don’t have a choice now , do they ?

She: I understand. Which floor are you located ? I could look you up sometime

When I told her my floor she gasped.

She: Oh my God I work on the same floor. What is your location?

I was secretly hoping that she isn’t in the same wing as mine…That would have seemed so bad. Thankfully we are seated in different wings. Oh, the sigh!

And while departing she said that she just loved my bracelet (I seriously didn’t understand…its just a copper bracelet…)

At least I was happy that I am not the only one who doesn’t know who sits next to me or everyone else in the floor (some people tend to know each and every person and their personal history too), unless and otherwise it is my team member with whom I have to interact if we share a project. Even if I sit close to someone or have to talk to them occasionally I can still be far out of reach personally.

And I never would have started a conversation even if I wanted to with some one by complimenting their copper bracelet 🙂

 

 

Its been so long

since I slept this well in a training session or a class or feel like it after a training session. God!!! I am unable to keep my opens now, even with all the stretch that I did after Yoga. During shavasana I almost zzzz’ed off. I used to be a very good student, you know, sitting in the first bench, irrespective of being the tallest in the class, taking notes, full concentration, ready with answers (but never speaking out, I would do that in my mind). But now, just one look at the trainer and the projector and I start yawning off. Especially after the lunch (in fact it was a very light lunch today), I just couldn’t hold it back. And I had to sit near the projector because I went in late (damn traffic). Tomorrow I am planning to get in half  an hour early, even if I have to skip my breakfast and grab a seat at the last row, where, if I really am feeling like it, I can doze off for a while. It could have the trainer’s fault too, because it wasn’t very creative. The topic was very much about design and stuff on a technology I have worked but I wanted to know some in depth details if possible and to see if it might help my work, but most of the time the trainer was letting everyone else answer the questions. In fact this guy is one of the prominent people in that technology and has quite a few blogs to his name. I realized even within the first hour that he will be much faster writing/typing down the answers rather than teach a big group. Some people who are technically very very competent don’t have the capability to teach in an interesting way. I saw this with one of my lecturers in my post-graduation too. He really could have done an excellent job if they had planned it well with lot of interaction because the course demanded some level of experience among the attendees. Whatever! I have to endure it for 3 more days.