The most important decade of my life

i just realised (thanks to all the status messages) that this is the start of a new decade....Its incredible, how something as this makes you want to look back... i realised this was the most important decade of my life... with the maximum changes and twists and turns I've lived through....Lets see.... in 2000 i became a post graduate with an enviable management degree, i had lived alone for the first time, gotten a job on my own merit, moved to 2 different cities, set up home, was personally shattered by a relationship, found the most incredible man.... somehow, this one year made me think life had come full circle!!

2001 started off pretty decent, we had a huge personal problem, i quit my work to take care of it.... i ran around courthouses and banks and police stations and realised there are more people wanting to cheat you than willing to help... my relationship with K was what kept me grounded and gave me solace....

2002 was personally the most tragic year... we lost N, Peddi and Nanna in 5 quick months...the devastation is something i have permanently tried to block out of my mind.... the only silver lining being that i began work with a telecom major which was to give me some of the most cherished friendships i still have and my brother got married....we ended 2002 hoping the next year would be a happier one....

2003 passed in a blur....i was courted and wooed with flowers and diamonds and the love of a man i am thankful to have found...we tied the knot by the end of the year...and despite all the drama... it was one wedding with the most amazing food ever! I took on the role of a wife, played house house and started to cook for the first time ever!! we bought our first (and only) car.

2004 made me switch jobs...break a rib and buy a house... buying the apartment was the most sensible thing we did...it was impulsive... but sensible...we lived on such less money that it wasnt funny, went through a series of maids, fretted over the sparsely populated area, began to travel to and from work by public transport and made my first trip to my in laws...i became a vegetarian......amma moved to bangalore with my brother and family....i cannot say i wasn't heartbroken, but it was for the best.

2005 made K switch jobs... i cant say i was very happy but it sort of laid the foundations for a whole paradigm shift in what he would later look for in a job.... i cant remember anything else from this year except we began eating breakfast in the car... this was the most tiring year....

2006 saw the repeat of the previous year....the same crazy timings and the tiredness....it also was the year when amma's eyesight began playing up and in quick succession she was left with permanent damage to both her eyes... she's a babe...and she as always took it in her stride and moved on.....i quit my job towards the end on a high note of good accomplishments.... i wanted to spend more time with amma and take life a little slower

Jan of 2007 made me an aunt with the birth of Rachel... my sugar pot...my brother's daughter.... she gave me a doze of surrogate motherhood and i will not say i loved it all... it terrified me and humbled me.....i turned 30....i also began work as an entrepreneur... i appeared on TV and was making more money through chocolates than i did through a regular job... i became a freelance writer... i started the cooking blog which was to change my life forever....we wanted to set up a restaurant and buy a coffee plantation but both of them didnt work out....

2008 came quickly enough.... we were debt free...paying off both the house and the car....K started work with another venture...did some significant work with writing his book...we made our first (and only) overseas trip to Maldives which will remain as a life changing moment for me...i juggled the writing, the training and the blog...discovering my deepest darkest moments with the highest most exhilarating ones....i began to work as a consultant towards the end of the year.....i rediscovered some friendships....

2009...  we saw the valley of flowers which was a long standing wish for the both of us.... we both started ventures which we hope will bring us one step closer to our dreams....its been a fast year... though i didnt do as much as i thought i would...i stopped obsessing with other's photo blogs and started one of my own....no significant milestones... just a consolidation of the life K and I have built together.....

2010-2020....i wonder what you hold in store for me.... bring me opportunities that push me to explore and display my best....keep me happy, strong and safe....