I have been putting off writing a 2014 review but have now succumbed to the pressure of doing one ‘for the sake of continuity’ and what if 20 years down the line I read my blog and want to relive my years and find 2014 missing? How will I remember all the mundaneness of the such a forgettable year?
I mean, it wasn’t all forgettable. It was my first year being married after all!
On Marriage
Firstly, I love being married. I can’t appreciate people who think marriage is overrated or are scared of it. Okay, they might have their reasons and different circumstances, fair enough. But mine work.
Living with a husband is liberating! It’s unlike living with roommates in college (not just because you now have money to enjoy life) or with family. It’s so physically, socially, emotionally, sexually, theatrically boundary-less. Now I don’t have to pretend I’m not emotional after watching my favourite Masterchef contestant being eliminated. I can get out of bed at 4pm because it’s just one of those days. We can go out to eat everyday because, yes, we can afford it! It’s great, it’s liberating. I can do, be, wear, eat, feel what I want!
Of course it takes time to get used to each other’s habits. Eating after dinner? Really? And then there are earnest pleas to not be nagging (I’m trying) but once that first adjustment period is over, it’s exquisite. I think you get the point. I love being married. Because it has just so uninhibitedly let me be me.
Secondly, I love what Nikhil taught me about marriage last year. That we are in the same team. It’s the best marriage advice that can exist and I want to shout it out to everybody I know that in a marriage, you’re always in the same frickin’ team. When I get frustrated at the world and take my anger out on him, I’m reminded, we’re in the same team. When I’m frustrated with familial issues, it’s not me against him because we’re in the same team! So, yes, that means that it never has to be me against the world. I have an effective teammate for life! If I could get a penny, or a rupee actually, every time I was asked, “are we an effective team?”. Thank you Oblivion, even though as a movie you were lame, you gave us our awesome motto for marriage!
Dogs
I also met some amazing dogs in 2014. It was the first time I stayed away from Leia, which was really hard at first but then now we’re used to it. It’s great when I go meet her and she knows that I’m going to come away. What a little darling! Then there was Mango. The little hyper munchkin who we loved to babysit and have over. What a force of energy she was. Unfortunately she didn’t make it after a bad case of distemper. And then the dogs around our house. Another thing which makes life great here is that I step out of the house and there are all the cute wagging tails all around. One of those, JD, who so possessively shooed all strange men away from me and whose occasional protective bites have now had him being taken away to god knows where! But yes, the doggies played such a big part of our lives last year. So much that they deserved a while section in my silly little reminiscent post.
The Rest of It
I’m not sure why 2014 was so bleh. But I didn’t like it. It’s my least favourite year in the recent past. If not for being a part of an effective team, it would surely have been my least favourite year ever. Not because I had a bad time. Just because it was so forgettable. Or I just have some weird grudge against it because as I am writing, it’s making me feel stupid because I cannot think of why I don’t like it. It’s like being in the middle of a passionate argument and realising that you really have no point to make.
In other things, as I always like record, we travelled to Udaipur, Corbett, Hyderabad (which impressed me to no extent), Hampi, Manali, apart from Mount Abu, of course. Basically the first six months we ensured we went somewhere or the other! I gained shit loads of weight and my health became the worst it’s ever been. I achieved nothing of note professionally. We had a lot of house parties, because we finally could! We had lots of people come visit, come stay over, which was fantastic.
Wait I found something of significance. How could I forget?
Cooking
2014 shall go down in history as the year I learnt how to cook. I cannot say that before coming to my own house I enjoyed cooking that much. But here, the the freedom to eat whatever I pleased, to cook lovely things, and a non-fussy housemate, was exhilarating! I spent evenings make roast chicken, slow-cooked mutton, prawn risotto, salads, bacon wrapped stuffed chicken, lemony baked fish, dense chocolate cake, ginger cookies, lemon cake and what not. The thrill of being able to eat what a very particular palate wanted is amazing! And it’s taught me a few things about myself.
Firstly, north Indian regular food, like daal roti sabzi is not my thing. I do not enjoy it, and I do not cook it. It took sometime for Nikhil to get used to the fact that he wouldn’t get “regular everyday” food at home but I am glad he has come to terms with it.
Secondly, I cannot cook vegetarian food. Apart from salads or mashed potato or sauteed vegetables, I am stressed if I have to feed vegetarian people. Coupled with my dislike of north Indian subzi’s, I am every mother-in-laws nightmare. I will not be turning out hot fresh Roti’s with bhindi ki subzi anytime soon.
The most important thing I learnt is that I love cooking only because I love eating. I do not love cooking in a way that I get to feed people and cook for others. Cooking for others stresses me out. I cannot be experimental and my mind is blank with ideas. I nervously refer to my phone photo album trying to find something that I have made before which turned out okay. That is not how I like to cook. I like to cook for myself and for Nikhil, only because he is non-fussy. I swear if he was one of those who found roast chicken bland, I would probably not have cooked at all. But now I can make soup on those soupy kind of days and just have that be all we eat.
So I think I’m going to give it the benefit of doubt. Last year was the base of this awesome and comfortable life I have right now. I love our house, in which every single bit including the hangers and lemon squeezer we use is carefully handpicked by both of us. Which we spent all of last year curating. I love my peace of mind, which I spent all of last year trying to balance. I think I got a good footing in 2014, so there you go! A super late random look back at the year which will hopefully make a future old me very happy!
I did it!
The Glob. 