Reflections on The Year Past

 2012

2012 has been a year of  bubble-wrap, happiness and courage. I moved to Mumbai, met Ratnesh's family, started blogging, became a post-graduate, and scored a job for the New Year. Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days of small changes in lifestyle and attitude and I'm  entering 2013 with openness to experience what this Maximum City had in store for us!

While I have loved living in Mumbai, my body has, unfortunately, not been as happy. Food poisoning came in April (I haven't eaten banana chips since) and then in July I was back in hospital with a bad kidney infection. Two bouts of scabies followed (I didn't know what it was either!) and my intestines proved to me regularly that they could tie knots better than I could with my hands. Interestingly enough, my face has been largely spot-free for the first time in many years!

Ratnesh & I in hospital with my Thali Hospital Food

The kidney infection was my body's big wake-up call that it was not happy. In fact, I had been suffering from fatigue for over a year and I had been ignoring it- everyone around me was coping just fine so I figured I should be able to as well. After the kidney infection, I began getting the type of sleep, water and food that was more agreeable to me. For the first time ever I also take 6 types of vitamins each day (and remember to take them!). Come to think of it, I have not experienced any weird health conditions for two months now - knock on wood!

India Overload of 2011!

The first half of the year saw me implementing measures so that India and I could stay friends. I never wanted to relive 2011's misery so my initial strategy was to block out potential threats that might burst my happiness bubble with Ratnesh. It did not work too well: I became a scaredy cat. I avoided taking a crowded local , speaking my point of view to locals, doing anything that might be  'wrong' around Ratnesh's family, being glared at in public. I blocked myself off from the opinions of others and information beyond what I felt necessary for my direct existence living with Ratnesh. I have watched less than ten Bollywood movies, hardly read the newspaper, and picked up only one book about India in the last two years, to avoid feeling overwhelmed by outside perspectives on all of India's confusing aspects.

I am now friends with the Mumbai Local!

I am grateful for this year of bubble-wrap. It has been one of the best years of my life in many ways. Though, come this September, I realised that walking tippie toed in India would not work well for long-term happiness. So I tried to open up to different shades of Mumbai and its people. I have been surprised by some of the things that I started to do. Like deciding to start a blog about my life in Mumbai (I had wanted to publically blog for years!). Like grabbing Maximum City off of the shelf (5 months after I bought it)  and becoming immersed in descriptions of Mumbai's underworlds. Like showing interest in the daily headlines for the first time ever. And like randomly throwing in some Hindi phrases in my daily conversations with Ratnesh, after a long bout of resistance to learning Hindi. 

My First Blog Post - Masala Chai Recipe

Allowing India to be India has also allowed me to be un-Indian. What a relief. Instead of worrying about what Ratnesh's family might expect from me as his girlfriend (which I did for the first half of the year), I channeled some energy into enjoying my time with them in recent trips to Nainital and India's beaches. Mind you I got very lucky that they are wonderful people who have been accepting of me from the beginning.

Most recently, as an un-Indian, I allowed myself to go crazy about Christmas: my favorite festival. I decorated to my hearts content and had a lot of fun teaching Ratnesh about "Christmas traditions" (which may or may not have been customised to my own taste). I initiated some festive cheer in a country where the vast majority do not celebrate Christmas - and it has probably been the most enjoyable Christmas season of my life.

Christmas Cheer with Diwali Lights

Reflecting back on the year past, I have no big realisation or a resolution for 2013. I am just extremely grateful for each and every person that I have met along the way and every experience that has taught me something new. I am grateful to have a life filled with love and opportunity and I am thankful for the chance to blog, through which I am finding the courage to speak from my heart. And I am genuinely excited to see what the New Year has in store!

I am grateful for this journey, and wishing you all the very best with yours for the New Year ahead.

Love Love Love

Elise xxoo