The year 2023 was a weird year for me which was like none before. Still, overall, I was okay with it and I won't call it bad or anything like that since it could have gone much worse.
At the beginning of the year, I witnessed a extreme roller-coaster 3 days. The best 2 days of many years were when I bonded with my kids. And then on the third day, a mini-disaster struck. Since childhood, as I was always a "good boy", I never got into physical altercations with anyone, not even during sports and games. Even college life in engineering college went 'eventless' though many friends plunged into so many kind of adventures. I never imagined I would witness a mini physical fight at this age and in such a situation.
For some years I have been telling youngsters that the most important decision in their life under their control was to choose their marriage partner. One wrong decision and a magic can transform your paradise into hell or throw you down a dark endless rabbit hole. Anyways, coming back to the event, I came out of it unregretful because I did not compromise on principles. But my leg was injured and due to my safe, "good boy" life, I had never been in such a situation. There was no broken part but there was pain which was to take time to heal. After this experience, I am more empathetic towards others who have undergone accidents or injuries or are in medical care. I see young boys rashly driving on the road, or news of youngsters fighting over petty issues, and I remember my injured leg and feel sorry for them. Something like the verse, "God, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Subsequently I got fully recovered, and the episode remained just a memory.
More than the physical injury, it was the emotional one which hurt. I realized that there is no limit to which some evil people can stoop, and they won't even stop harming the minds of small children. The term "evil" suits some people and we can't deny it no matter how we try. This is why I have always kept a distance from such people, but due to certain life situations, we can't avoid them always.
After a while, another interesting situation came. I had lodged a case against a builder in 'RERA' and I was fighting my own case without a lawyer. This year, I won the case. The victory was not a surprise since truth was on my side. But I felt very happy that I was able to fight the case without any lawyer's help and I was able to win it. The monthly hearings and travel to attend it in state capital were hardships, but I enjoyed it. And when the builder came to know that he lost the case, he turned more aggressive and abusive and declined to obey the court order. Hence, the court victory was short-lived and I have to file another complaint to get the order implemented. Here, I learnt an important lesson: others may not work the way we work.
Since we are good, law abiding or rational, we expect others to behave in a certain manner after putting ourselves in their place. But the other person may not be a same kind of person and hence may not behave as we expected! It seems evil people's minds work in different way, and it is difficult for others to understand it.
Our finance minister said that children should be educated about basics of "financial management" right in schools for better success in their life. How about teaching basics of "how to deal with corrupt, evil and dishonest people" in schools, for the better success in our lives? Our parents teach us about only the good side of the society. Our schools and colleges give us an "idealistic" view of this world. Our workplaces tell us to follow policy and live by the rules. But when we encounter evil or bad people, all our previous education and training do not come handy and many of us we are not able to deal with them effectively. In such situations, more than financial literacy or technical skills, life skills for survival and ways of dealing with bad people would help us more.
In the later part of the year there was a medical condition in family which consumed much time and efforts. It was a learning experience. I was in touch with the medical field due to family reasons, but in a different manner. And this year, I had to visit hospitals and get very practical understanding of medical field due to illness of a family member. I also interacted with so many doctors and medical field members and I liked the experience. Since medical field is a specialized field, outsiders are not equipped to their way of thinking and it is always a learning experience to interact with them.
The year also brought news related to a long-standing issue, which I have to manage in the next year.
I am fully prepared to deal with all the good and not good things in store next year. I am always watchful of how I am changing with age, and I try to understand how our understanding of this world updates with time. I feel like this world is balanced on a very thin rope. And often what we consider not important is important and the vice versa. To summarize all my life lessons so far, if I have to speak of one thing which I consider most precious, magical, and which brings meaning to everything, I will call it 'innocence'. It may sound like anticlimax and anti-wisdom, but I will bet on it any day.
Wishing you all a very happy new year 2024!
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