Pappu can't dance saala! (or Happy New Year!)
I never could dance.
The few occasions that I did dance on, were always under special circumstances. To put it simply, I simply had no talent. It just didn't come naturally to me, and the fear of looking ridiculous was ..... overpowering. Plus there were the easy cliches to resort to, like "Tough guys don't dance", or the self-improvised "It is better to remain in a corner and be thought a fool, than to dance and remove all doubt" (ok, I made that one up just now). It is only now that I look back and think maybe I should've been less uptight, just tried to have fun. Not that I didn't have any, looking at those who looked like what I imagined myself as dancing would - but a less negative kind of fun would have been much better.
But why am I talking about dancing? Because it's related to my "novel experience of the year". As my friends were daring me to do something earlier this month, saying that "each year, you must do one thing you have never done before", I gently reminded them that I already was, just by being there - there being Hochzillertal, a skiing resort in the Austrian Alps. As I coped with the sheer uncertainty of not knowing how exactly to start or stop, with the latter being especially disconcerting, I reflected on how I hadn't been so utterly out of control for a long, long time. The one-hour lesson with the very nice instructor was great, but there were a few moments where I was accelerating with no other means of stopping other than deliberately falling - luckily, the instructor grabbed me on some of those. Still, fall I did, and it wasn't all that bad. Gradually, I learned how to stop with a reasonable amount of control. Once you know that you can stop, everything else gets much easier. By the fourth day, the gentle slope for beginners was no problem, and going up the lift where you have to "tuck a puck" between your legs and stand straight, was no problem either. The take home lesson for me was that in you need to be open to new sorts of failures in order to have a shot at achieving new sorts of success.
Of course, we all know this. Yet most of us seldom act upon it. As adults, we have too many doubts, and too many thoughts. And people like me, who've grown up "winning" most arguments and always "having an answer for everything", can be particularly bad at going in for activities where making mistakes is guaranteed. Which is why I still don't speak German as much as I should. That's one thing I really must do more of in 2009. The understanding part is pretty decent now - I managed to clear an exam meant for people with "800 hours" of experience of learning German, and am now officially certified to attend courses taught in German (not that I need or intend to). Given the sort of time pressure I was operating under, what with various deadlines, trips, and many missed classes, all of which made me seriously consider not giving the exam, this is actually the one achievement in 2008, in which I take the most pride.
But 2008 was quite a year anyway, the "year of years", even. Hard to say if it was the best ever (having someone to share it would definitely have made it even better), but it is easily one of the best few. As posted earlier, I travelled a lot, including covering 4 continents in the first 7 months, and 8 countries in all. I was really fortunate that way.
I also got to catch with up some old friends, while some relatively new friendships grew stronger. And of course I made some new friends as well. Many goodbyes were said too, but we shall come to that in a moment. It would be amiss not to count a return to public singing among the memorable experiences in 2008 - I sang in front of a sizable (250-ish) crowd after a gap of few years, at a Diwali function in Heidelberg, for which I have rashmiprasad to thank. And then I surprised my research group here by singing at the time of the farewell - only one of them had any idea I could sing a bit! :-)
However, a lot happened on the academic/work front, too - I managed to publish 2 papers, and with a few others submitted or in the pipeline, the Ph.D is well on track towards a 2009 finish. Along the way, I also managed to get scooped - hard to take, but part of the game - and was extremely lucky in landing several new collaborators. The short term future looks very interesting indeed.
Making it even more interesting, I shall be moving in less than 4 days, to take up a position in my co-supervisor's group in Freiburg. I shall first wrap up the Ph.D, and then continue for a short postdoc, before moving somewhere, perhaps in the second half of 2010. I don't really feel like leaving, as the work environment - work, boss, colleagues - in Jena is the best I've ever had. But it's time, and go I must. And I am in the fortunate position of knowing that the new work environment will be great, too. And as a city - not that there's anything wrong with Jena - Freiburg wins quite easily. It's a vibrant, beautiful city - neither too small, nor too big and crowded. Plus the location is amazing - 45 mins to Switzerland, slightly less to France, and half an hour to the Black Forest. Plus it's the sunniest town in Germany :-)
So Happy New Year, everybody - here's to an year of expected and unexpected joys. I have several aims, including finishing the Ph.D successfully, publishing several papers, making several new friends and also remaining in touch with the old ones (family included), losing weight etc. etc. But above all, I want to remember the skiing experience, and try out new things, fighting the urge to remain in control as best as I can. Fall you must, before you can walk in new dimensions.
Heck, I might even shake a leg.
The few occasions that I did dance on, were always under special circumstances. To put it simply, I simply had no talent. It just didn't come naturally to me, and the fear of looking ridiculous was ..... overpowering. Plus there were the easy cliches to resort to, like "Tough guys don't dance", or the self-improvised "It is better to remain in a corner and be thought a fool, than to dance and remove all doubt" (ok, I made that one up just now). It is only now that I look back and think maybe I should've been less uptight, just tried to have fun. Not that I didn't have any, looking at those who looked like what I imagined myself as dancing would - but a less negative kind of fun would have been much better.
But why am I talking about dancing? Because it's related to my "novel experience of the year". As my friends were daring me to do something earlier this month, saying that "each year, you must do one thing you have never done before", I gently reminded them that I already was, just by being there - there being Hochzillertal, a skiing resort in the Austrian Alps. As I coped with the sheer uncertainty of not knowing how exactly to start or stop, with the latter being especially disconcerting, I reflected on how I hadn't been so utterly out of control for a long, long time. The one-hour lesson with the very nice instructor was great, but there were a few moments where I was accelerating with no other means of stopping other than deliberately falling - luckily, the instructor grabbed me on some of those. Still, fall I did, and it wasn't all that bad. Gradually, I learned how to stop with a reasonable amount of control. Once you know that you can stop, everything else gets much easier. By the fourth day, the gentle slope for beginners was no problem, and going up the lift where you have to "tuck a puck" between your legs and stand straight, was no problem either. The take home lesson for me was that in you need to be open to new sorts of failures in order to have a shot at achieving new sorts of success.
Of course, we all know this. Yet most of us seldom act upon it. As adults, we have too many doubts, and too many thoughts. And people like me, who've grown up "winning" most arguments and always "having an answer for everything", can be particularly bad at going in for activities where making mistakes is guaranteed. Which is why I still don't speak German as much as I should. That's one thing I really must do more of in 2009. The understanding part is pretty decent now - I managed to clear an exam meant for people with "800 hours" of experience of learning German, and am now officially certified to attend courses taught in German (not that I need or intend to). Given the sort of time pressure I was operating under, what with various deadlines, trips, and many missed classes, all of which made me seriously consider not giving the exam, this is actually the one achievement in 2008, in which I take the most pride.
But 2008 was quite a year anyway, the "year of years", even. Hard to say if it was the best ever (having someone to share it would definitely have made it even better), but it is easily one of the best few. As posted earlier, I travelled a lot, including covering 4 continents in the first 7 months, and 8 countries in all. I was really fortunate that way.
I also got to catch with up some old friends, while some relatively new friendships grew stronger. And of course I made some new friends as well. Many goodbyes were said too, but we shall come to that in a moment. It would be amiss not to count a return to public singing among the memorable experiences in 2008 - I sang in front of a sizable (250-ish) crowd after a gap of few years, at a Diwali function in Heidelberg, for which I have rashmiprasad to thank. And then I surprised my research group here by singing at the time of the farewell - only one of them had any idea I could sing a bit! :-)
However, a lot happened on the academic/work front, too - I managed to publish 2 papers, and with a few others submitted or in the pipeline, the Ph.D is well on track towards a 2009 finish. Along the way, I also managed to get scooped - hard to take, but part of the game - and was extremely lucky in landing several new collaborators. The short term future looks very interesting indeed.
Making it even more interesting, I shall be moving in less than 4 days, to take up a position in my co-supervisor's group in Freiburg. I shall first wrap up the Ph.D, and then continue for a short postdoc, before moving somewhere, perhaps in the second half of 2010. I don't really feel like leaving, as the work environment - work, boss, colleagues - in Jena is the best I've ever had. But it's time, and go I must. And I am in the fortunate position of knowing that the new work environment will be great, too. And as a city - not that there's anything wrong with Jena - Freiburg wins quite easily. It's a vibrant, beautiful city - neither too small, nor too big and crowded. Plus the location is amazing - 45 mins to Switzerland, slightly less to France, and half an hour to the Black Forest. Plus it's the sunniest town in Germany :-)
So Happy New Year, everybody - here's to an year of expected and unexpected joys. I have several aims, including finishing the Ph.D successfully, publishing several papers, making several new friends and also remaining in touch with the old ones (family included), losing weight etc. etc. But above all, I want to remember the skiing experience, and try out new things, fighting the urge to remain in control as best as I can. Fall you must, before you can walk in new dimensions.
Heck, I might even shake a leg.