2012 In Review

Looking back at 2012, it was a pretty mixed year for me; some things to remember and some things to forget. Guess that’s what life is about.

January: I remember quite a lot about January. It was my first month back here on WordPress, and it felt nice. Settling back in, though I had been a WP blogger for more than a year previously… making new friends, realizing old friends like SLP Martin and Clarice were still following the blog… I also got started with getting my friends to guest post here too, with Arti coming with a travelogue post. Personal life was also good in January… a third year at the same firm, and a sports week that went very well. I met a dear friend for the very first time, and it was a day to remember as well. Also this month held a missed meeting, one that I still painfully remember.

February, April, September and October: I club these four together because they were special for similar reasons. They were the months where I wrote each day, and I loved what I wrote too. Haiku, free verse, stories… each of them felt close to my heart, more so than usual. Also won a bronze BATOM during September, which was my first third place finish. The Fool, a blogger I’ve known and been friends with for quite some time, reviewed my blog. I don’t remember much of life as such, I think illness played quite a part in this year, and these months particularly.

May was when I tried to take a lot of TFs inputs and implement them. I did most, but some have fallen back since then. Some habits die hard, but I don’t think I’ve come off worse for returning to them, though I do keep a control so I don’t get too addicted.

July and August are memorable for me because of two attended meets. First was a small meet, between seven of us who were part of a blogging team. It was maybe because of the small number that it was quite expressive. We just chatted over tea and snacks and just had fun discussing things especially the contest we were part of. The seven of us met up with others from the team in a bigger meet where we were part of many bloggers we didn’t even know. I remember this meet, and feel it to be the best I’ve been to, because after I returned home, there was a feeling of sadness, and a wish that the meet hadn’t ended. I met friends for the very first time, Pooja, Naba, Suresh, Sonshu, Ghanchakkar, Farida ji and many others. I came in second on a sonnet poem, and saw my friends scale heights too. It was fun leading the Bangalore team in the contest, although the final outcome of the contest wasn’t that memorable. I won gold in Blogaton too. On a personal note, I guess both months were slow. My birthday saw many wishes come by, but it was more of a gloomy birthday I feel.

November isn’t that memorable. I thought it might be, but it isn’t. Or rather, it isn’t memorable for meetups. I missed one that I should have attended, and maybe attended one that I should have missed. I started going to a writer’s club, and it is quite fun. It has made me realize my novel needs to happen, and happen soon. I’m working more diligently on it after that.

March saw quite a lot of guest posts and quite a lot of challenges on the blog. I’ve since closed the challenges page since I have become lazy in taking them up. I might start them again this year though. I should see. Maybe, maybe not…

June is one month I try to put out of my mind for personal reasons. Not a good month at all.

December has been topsy-turvy. Some highs like being part of a top three in a writing workshop for fiction bloggers (which led to me becoming judge for the succeeding edition of that workshop), meeting and learning from a published author in another workshop where I made a lot of new friends too, writing often and returning to reading novels often too (I do book reviews a lot now, which is something new and that I love doing), seeing many people visiting my blog (page views mainly for now, I hope that translates into proper comments and readership too soon) and so on. I even purchased a lot of books this month, and seeing my love for reading, my secret Santa gifted me a novel too (no complaints, Santa! That was the right gift for moi). Some forgettable moments were a couple of minor accidents and small illnesses that struck me, and of course, reading about the tragedies that struck the world, like the Newtown shooting, and the Delhi gangrape, both of which made me sad and downhearted for a while. Doomsday however went by without any issues, so that’s a relief (atleast for now).

To put some numbers to the year of blogging, WordPress has given me this report. It’s quite interesting to know:

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 43,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 10 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

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Also sharing this review with my good friend Nimue who hosts the Months challenge each year. This is the first time I’m not doing it in multiple posts and poetry, inspiration just didn’t cut it this month for the reviewing in poetry!

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~ WISHING EVERY ONE OF YOU : A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2013 ~

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(’12, Dec 31)

Travels..

How fickle this muse is at times,
I’ve to chide her to come out,
To inspire my every inspiration,
Be the voice behind each shout.
To leave a place where I’m set,
And find new spaces to write,
These travels are always tiring,
Against my heartbeats, to fight
I have forgotten my frustrations,
At her cajoling, stubborn mind,
And done her ways for writing,
What thoughts I once did find,
As I look onward, I am unsure,
If these travels will come again,
But she seems at home here,
As are my happiness and pain

To get back to writing, I left WordPress for Blogspot recently, in August, and then returned back here for a longer stay this December. One of the more fixed memories of the year I suppose.

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I hope for a better year,
for a very dear friend;
who on road to happiness,
found despair in the end.
Misled from the beginning,
her dream life got worse,
she left with only tears,
no blessings but a curse.
Sensitive but well loved,
I hope she gets through;
dear friend, know this,
many hearts care for you.
This verse you can’t read,
but I know you can hear,
our friendship is always,
treasured, and very dear.

My best friend got married in April, and I had felt her joy and delight every time I used to pull her leg, call her auntie etc. Recently, she filed for separation from her husband. She’s very sensitive to sorrows, and I’ve been helping her to try and get back up emotionally. I pray she gets the strength to return to the wonderful, fun-loving girl I know her to be.

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Inspired by a thought
Muse travels in parts with joy
And a poem is knit

I collaborated with Lady Nimue in March as we corresponded through mails to write the poem As It Will Be. It is memorable to me, because it is the first time I collaborated with another writer without knowing where the poem is headed. It was a delightful little project.

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I took out my pencil from the box and wrote the first word.

The muse was in good mood today, and the sentences formed quickly.

Then I stopped, erased it all out; started again.

“What’s wrong? That was good, you fool”, snapped my offended muse.

“Dammit, writing in 55 words isn’t easy”, I snapped back.

May is memorable to me because it was the first time I tried writing Flash 55 fiction, inspired by the writers at G-man’s Friday meme. I’d written lengthy fictions before, so limiting the story to 55 words without losing the zest in the writing was very challenging for me.

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For Lady Nimue‘s Months Challenge – March, April, May and August.

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(’11. dec 31.)

Experiments and milestones

So many forms,
a poem can take,
just few lines,
for a muse to wake.
three lines of art,
or ballads long;
if we’re artists,
the poem is a song.
I made a form,
of my very own;
with short lines,
and flowing tones.
I realized then,
power of poetry,
even restrictions,
could set me free.

I’ve always been intrigued by the nuances of poetical forms, syllables and meters, rhymes and refrains. This past June, I tried my hand at creating a form, and named it Duoundectain. I didn’t think anyone would be interested in it, but surprisingly, another friend, intrigued by it tried it almost immediately, and it made me happy too.

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Attempt to inspire,
to get a form known,
tried by many others,
an idea was once sown.
Each week I’d share,
for a haiku, a theme,
many took it along,
it turned, a dream.
A year and even more,
this venture is now,
stepping stone of many,
nurtured with love.

Anyone who’s been part of my blogging journey would know of my admiration and passion for the haiku form of poetry. With this passion in mind, I had started the meme, Haiku Heights in July of 2010. It was a delightful part of my journey, and I’m happy that it has got those new to the form to attempt it too, work on the form, and enjoy doing it. Nearly 100 prompts now and over a hundred writers over the year, the progress it has got is one of my achievements for this year I feel.

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For Lady Nimue‘s Months Challenge – June & July

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(’11. dec 29.)

Looking back..

if only I had the heart
to stay with what I started
perhaps my year too
would have been complete
but when I look back
I have not a single regret
for the month that began
went with the still flow
flooding over into another
felt both beats of love
and beats of utter hatred
yet two months I find
to have changed my life
in ways that I’ll never forget

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For January and February, when despite quitting the attempt to write post-a-day for 2011, I managed to write 75 posts, thanks to my muse, and to a haiku challenge. I fell in love, and felt free and light hearted once again. Yet somewhere, a pang of hatred too. Mixed emotions you could say. No regrets for anything whatsoever. Inspired by and shared with, Lady Nimue‘s month’s challenge.

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(’11. dec 26.)