The tides of March

March was a bitter sweet month, an emotional rollercoaster. I travelled, got a health scare when my dad got his routine checkup done, I had a good trading run, I was betrayed by my own self - I relapsed into the ways of the yonder, the era gone by, where I did not work on any of my side projects, no much excercise, no new learnings, work was also stressful, but I did manage to hold my own and connect with my new team. So overall a good month. And yes I went kayaking into the sea - hence the title - tides of March.

Recapping March 2021

Started the month on a pretty scary note, what was supposed to be a routine check up of my father turned out to be a weekend nightmare for us, when the doctors found some irregularities and dark spots on one of the scans, but thankfully it turned out to be nothing. The entire incident made me realize how true the old proverb is - “There are no athiests in the foxhole”. Did a short day trio Phillaur, where I spent some time with my grandmother, which was nice. March also had shivratri, which we celebrated like the ancients had intended, with bhang thandai and bhang pakode.

There was a cute side incident which I would like to document, bhaang made me realize how cute my parents really are, so a couple of hours post bhang, I was beginning to get those tiny little buzzes in my head and I was getting munchies. So I head down and my father is also in the middle of the munchies, he refuses to accept that the bhang has affected him, but I can see it , I have seen it before in noobs. So my father and I have now finished a couple of packets of namkeen, cooked and consumed a couple of cakes of instant noodles and are still feeling like we could eat. Now it was our plan that we will go out for dinner and I could see that as not happening, but my dad was adamant that we will go out and he will drive. It took all of my buzzed competencies to carefully msnipulate him into ordering food in, so that his feelings are not hurt, but ensure our collective safety. It was cute, and I am stiull decently pleased with the level of maturity I displayed.

March also saw my visit “namma bengaluru” - not a bad city, I love the dosas and the weather, but not a fan of how far away everything is (or it seems thanks to traffic). Work was hectic during this period, and did not get a chance to gallavant, however the weekend saw us moving toward the ocean. Udupi is about 10 hours away Bengaluru, where we beat the hustle bustle of the city with mangroves, Shambhavi river and the mighty Arabian sea.

Personal Development

• Nothing to report here this month. My 2021 month of shame :(

Other interests

• I created a new recipe for vegetarian tacos, which was pretty nice. I refried beans in tomato gravy with mushrooms and onions. Added multiple layers of flavour using the same raw ingredients- pickled cucumbers and onions with raw cucumbers and onions in the salsa and more. A good mix of sweet, salty and spicy flavours.

• I finished my jigsaw puzzle after toiling on it for the last couple of months ( only weekends)

Books/ Audiobooks/ Podcasts

• Psychology of Money (audio book) - Finished this book, the last chapter dragged on a bit, but still very good book overall.
• 10X Rule (audio book) - Started this new book, which tells the secrets to success. Promised to blow my mind, but not really building upto all the hype. Will stick to it for another couple of days to see if there is anything useful in this
• Homo Deus - Did not make too much progress in this one this month.

Excercise/ Workout

• Did do a couple of 2K runs in the first half of the month, but nothing regular. Hurt my leg on a coral while Kayaking which really did not help.
• Apparently my phone did not track the last couple of days in march, but still averages out ~10K steps/ day

Projects

• Project Gecco - Made no real progress this month

• Project McDuck - A very good month for me, Project McDuck wise. I followed the rules set last month and kind of benefitted a lot of from it. Need to replicate it for the next couple of months so that I can make them a habit.

P.S

Not that bad off a month when I recap it, but it could have been better. I did waste a lot of time on watching old sitcoms, but to be fair I had a lot of things on my plate this month. March was a good reset button, and am hoping April is when we get back right on track.