The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Season’s greetings to you!

It’s been a few weeks since I last wrote my newsletter. I initially thought of taking about a month off from publishing, but here I am. Also, I certainly didn’t want it to get to a point where there was way too much resistance to writing and publishing. 

A few eventful things have happened since I last published. This newsletter will be more of an update as to how things have been and what’s in store for me in the weeks to come.  

I went on a quick trip to Bangalore for a dear friend’s birthday toward the end of November. He’s a friend from college and we hadn’t met for a while due to the pandemic. Fortunately, around the last week of November, things weren’t so bad and I could travel and spend time with him as well as other friends. 

There was some fear associated with travelling and being away from a familiar setting that was bothering me before I left. However, I got on that bus to Bangalore and ended up enjoying the birthday celebration in a way that I hadn’t in ages! 

Following this trip, I went for a trek to Kodachadri, a mountain in the western ghats of South India. This was a weekend activity and it ended up being one of the most powerful weekends of my life. I along with 12 others trekked through dense forests and rough terrain to a height of about 4,400 feet. 

The homestay we stayed at offered us an extravagant night sky, delicious veg food, and a great time around the campfire. And oh, that was the first time I slept in a tent under the night sky! 

I’ve been in Mangalore since I came back from the trek on the 6th of this month. I’ve had work and choir practices that I’ve been engaged with. Going forward as well, these are the two things that I’ll be mostly focusing on. 

December isn’t complete without family get-togethers and functions. I’ve had a few already and am looking forward to more that are coming up!  

Last but not by far least, there’s one more exciting event for later this month — I’ll be going to watch (and dance to) Ben Bohmer live! I’ve been listening to his sets for a while now and I’m stoked to be in Bangalore to dance to his set!

Well, all of this has required me to show up in a way that is never easy — someone who is willing to overcome fear by facing it head-on. If there’s one thing that’s very evident to me from these past few weeks, it’s that everything will be ok, if not great, in the end. 

Leaving you with some beautiful pictures from the trek…