2024: Year-in-review
I have been thinking about how to start this blog post. We are towards the end of one more year, and I wanted to reflect on the year that’s almost gone by and list down a few things I anticipate in the next year, 2025. I thought with my cliched template of starting with movies, books, series, etc., but I feel that’s not how this blog post should be started. So, let me tell you how we welcomed the new year (2024) and see if I can get a cue for this blog post summarizing this year!
We welcomed this year at our flat with close friends. No alcohol, no dance parties, just a few friends sitting around the dining table, listening to each other’s thoughts on how the previous year went by (2023) and appreciating each other for being there.
One of our friends, KM Garu, asked all of us to close our eyes and recall what had happened every month of the previous year. Things we love, things we hate, things that we cherish, things that didn’t go well, and what we expect from 2024. It was a lovely evening (or night) to have such a thoughtful activity and express gratitude for everything. We closed our eyes and recollected what happened in our lives in 2024 and reflected upon our health, well-being, and relationships.
And yeah, I reflected upon my travel in 2023 and mentioned I look forward to focusing on health this year.
I got the cue — let me write how I felt and what I did in 2024 now.
As I set my goals to focus on fitness, writing, and avoiding traveling this year, I stuck to it more or less. I stayed in Hyderabad for the entire January and February, not even leaving the city for a day or two, owing to my fear of a losing streak at Cult Fit. Towards the beginning of the year, I started attending strength training classes and showed up almost five days a week at cult centers. The goal was to gain muscle, and I set up a milestone of touching 63 kg in body weight to reward myself with an international trip this year.
I was around 54 kg in January, and owing to my diet and workout discipline, I reached about 59 kg in June. The only break I took was in April to attend weddings in my extended family. I followed the no-travel policy well until June and was happy about the progress I made with weight gain.
In the month of July, I went for Lasik surgery for both of my eyes. I was advised not to workout for almost two weeks, and then started the decline in body weight and discipline. From 59 kg, the weight went down south. By the time I realized this, I was back to 53 kg. Inconsistency in diet and workout and the anxiety about the first surgery in my life were the reasons I felt. Anyway, I resumed working out, although inconsistently. The goal should be the same for 2025 — touch 63 kg. I’ll definitely be focusing on it thoroughly next year.
Speaking of health, I’d like to add about my running journey too! I was running regularly during my school days, touching about 1 km every day, but that habit was long gone after that. This year, our company conducted a running event (each participant can choose to run either 5k or 10k at their place), and I ran my first ever 5k in February. It was fun, tiring, and a journey of self-discovery about myself. I enjoyed it and went for multiple walks with my friends to the same track this year.
Towards the end of the year, I decided to do one more 5k and ended up running twice, making a total of three 5k runs this year. I discovered I love running, and yeah, I’m proud of myself! I did track a few activities on Strava, and here is the Strava Wrapped 😀
Back in school, I wondered what I’d be doing when I had the luxury of time and money in my 20s and was listing down things. Joining a theater group to learn the basics of acting was one of them, owing to the popularity of the Surabhi theatre group back in my childhood, and a small dream of watching myself on screen was another reason for this. Soon after Lasik, I enrolled in a theatre group and attended classes regularly. Owing to multiple reasons, two weeks into the course, the institute stopped classes and shut down. I was disappointed but at least low-key happy that I had pushed myself to do this and showed up in the first place.
Sometime in the future, I’ll join a theatre group again and learn the basics of acting 😀
Concerts
This year has been kind with respect to the concerts I’ve attended. I have been to Micless with Merakee — where we could sing along aloud with the singers on stage — and vibe with the audience there! I loved it and will attend these events again.
And next, we went to Devi Sri Prasad’s Hyderabad concert! Oh god, that was really a fantastic experience for me. We went with the right set of friends, and we had a lot of fun at the concert.
And in December, I went to Arijit Singh’s concert with my sister. This has been on her bucket list for a long time, and yeah, we marked it done together! It was a lovely event with an even lovely performer.
Travel
Owing to the promise I made to myself, I haven’t traveled much this year. I covered only these places — Bengaluru, Hubli, Pondicherry, Coimbatore, and Delhi. I visited Coimbatore and Delhi for the first time in my life and loved both of them. Delhi particularly has my heart and was lovely at the time of my visit. My friends there made it even more memorable with the perfect travel plan.
Writing
Well, this is the only aspect I’m not happy about with my progress. I couldn’t focus on writing this year, but it is something I should be mindful of in 2025. I delayed writing blogs and kept aside other writing work, citing multiple reasons, the primary one being having a writing discipline. I should be focusing on it next year. Even the Delhi blog post that I’ve been writing for a long time is kept aside owing to my procrastination. Praying all gods to keep me back on track.
Well, now I’ve something to show off — Books I read and movies I watched this year.
Books
I completed 21 books this year, and this is my best year yet in terms of reading. I admit there were a few weeks of reading slump, but I got it covered by reading whatever book I felt like reading. Here’s the list:
I read 16 English books and 5 Telugu books this year. Inadvertently, I was inclined towards reading non-fiction the most in 2024. Also, one more point I noticed: I read books from authors who are alive.
I was having this thought of late: Artists crave appreciation. Most of them create art for themselves, and they feel better if someone reaches out to them and appreciates their work. I heard about Vincent Van Gogh and felt bad. There are many such artists whose art was lauded by people long after they were gone. Imagine dying broke and sad, but after a few decades, you become the best-selling author! Although this thought was there in my mind, I was not consciously picking up books written by the authors who were alive. It was random, but I reached out to a few of the authors to mention what I like in their book. They were happy 😀
I don’t have reading goals for 2025. I wish to continue reading regularly and see what I can learn from books.
I’m not consciously picking up a few books to recommend to you all. This blog post is meant to initiate conversations, not end them 😊
Movies
After I moved to Hyderabad in 2023, I made it a point to watch movies in multiple languages, and I’m happy I could do that in 2024. Here’s the list of movies I watched at the cinemas this year:
A total of 36 movies were at the cinemas in multiple languages. Language-wise breakdown:
July is the only month in which I haven’t watched a movie in the theatre owing to the lack of movies and my Lasik. Well, we have an odd man out 😛
And, oh, I tracked the list of movies I watched on OTTs, too (including a few web series and one documentary). Here’s the list:
79 movies in total (Cinemas and OTT combined). Well, I’m not tracking this for any improvements, etc. This is a fun activity to see where I spend my time and money, and I’ve the answer now 🙂
Before I talk about self-reflection things, here’s my Spotify wrapped for 2024. ARR, yet again, for the fourth consecutive time, topped the list ♥️
Also, I listed down a few things I want to do in my life, which touch everything from health, fitness, personal interests, and professional things. A roadmap of sorts but without a timeline. Task list, but with a broader time horizon. Let’s see if I check them off in the future 😀
There are a few things I learned this year: To observe things more carefully, listen to people properly before talking, and exercise self-restraint before expressing feelings (I learned a few things the hard way). My actions hurt a few of my loved ones, and I should be mindful from next time. I should not be the reason for someone to cry. Anyway, it is good to know the shortcomings and try to overcome them 🙂
I also realized how much I love Meghana’s Special Veg Biryani, Glen’s Red Velvet cupcakes, and Spicy Venue’s Apricot Delight 😋
Overall, this year has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. I laughed, cried, enjoyed solitude, explored a few things I always wanted to, discovered a few things about my friends and me tried a few things, liberated from eyeglasses, socialized actively while having a good time in solitude, spent quality time with family, attended weddings of my loved ones, traveled to new places while loved being at my place! I managed to host ~30 folks at our flat for my birthday, surprising myself! Here’s to more such years with mixed emotions and strength from family and friends, to face difficult situations 🎉
Another year, and I can’t thank you all for encouraging me to continue writing blog posts. This is one of the few things I am proud of, and continuing for the last six years. Takes a little effort but a lot of discipline. Thank you! This is all I could say.
Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy and healthy 2025 ✨
