Taking Stock

***

Despite my whining, this year has been pretty great, actually. M and I went to Goa in January and had a super time. It was the kind of holiday that's impossible to imagine with my parents (bless them). My parents have this great fear that whichever hotel we stay in will run out of water. So they usually wake up at some ungodly hour and start filling all the buckets in the bathroom while trying to hold a conversation above the din.

I'd wake up and find two beings wearing monkey caps performing this bucket-filling activity with supreme efficiency. My protests that I wanted to sleep for longer would be met with an instruction to get ready and walk in the mist. During this mist-walk, it was mandatory to deep breathe and observe flowers, according to my mother. My father's only focus would be on how far ahead I'm walking because you never know when kidnappers would be in a mood to kidnap.

After this walk, my father, who has always been a Man with a Plan, would have booked a bus or boat or bullock cart at 6 AM or thereabouts to take us to all the destinations that are on the tourist map a few centuries earlier. So we'd wake up the poor room service boys, goad them into giving us breakfast, and then rush towards the mode of transport, always with an aim to be the first ones to have reached the spot. We'd then wait impatiently as the rest of the lazybones tourists arrived, commenting on People's Inefficiency, Lack of Punctuality, and Inability to Plan. After seeing everything that's there to be seen and clicking a few million pictures (for all of which my father would have given instructions on how to hold the camera), we'd have an early dinner and go to bed. Because the next day, we'd have to get up early and fill buckets.

I've had several holidays of this kind and it even inspired an Interval episode in CM. Here's the first page of it:

Since both M and I have similar ideas on vacation, we were content to lie on the beach and do absolutely nothing for most part of the holiday. It was certainly a waste of time and we didn't see everything that was there to be seen in Goa, happily. (There's no escaping DNA, though. I almost popped a vein when the cab meant to take us to the railway station was ten minutes late. M was amused by just how red my face could turn.)

In March, I went down to Chennai for the launch of Mayil Will Not Be Quiet. I had a vague suspicion that I was pregnant, but didn't bother checking because I had too much to think about already. This was my first proper book launch and I was a bundle of nerves. Thankfully, N and I didn't goof up and we did a decent job of it. N, A, and I met up for lunch and N was saying we should do a trip sometime in May. I remember saying haha-I-could-be-pregnant-but. 'A' kindly said I didn't have any pregnant glow and to shut up. But ah well, it turned out that I was right.

After that, most of the year has been about doctor visits, advice from all quarters, parents and in-laws flying in and out, and M and I coming to terms with the fact that we were now firmly and irrevocably lodged in Uncle-Aunty category. As a married couple, we've also worked much better together this year and learned to laugh more and get pissed less.

Career-wise, I managed to expand my freelance network a bit. I have no illusions of being a Super-Mom and I'm happy to take things easy and work within my own comfort zone. Thankfully, the people I work with are cooperative, so I've had no trouble finding well-paying, regular assignments. I've also been writing a column on Creative Thinking in IE. Nothing earth-shattering, but well, it's a good addition to that 'My Pregnant Year' CV!

As far as publishing goes, I've two more picture books with Tulika coming up. A short story of mine has been accepted by Puffin for their upcoming anthology of magic stories. Aana and Chena has gone into reprint. Mayil continues to receive good press coverage. In all, I'm pleased with my writing work this year.

What else? There's a baby coming soon. And then there's the next year to think about.

Not too shabby for GB, what?