2008 - Looking back

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  The year 2008 is being termed as one of the worst years in the recent past by most of the eminent community like astrologers / businessmen / politicians / terrorists (??) / working group / media people / students / armed force etc. Every one has a justification to substantiate their stand in this regard & most of it looks valid in paper too. Very few industries are happy at the end of the year & according to me, telecom / food / entertainment industry has survived the recession. (The only industry where recruitment is happening at full swing is the BEGGING INDUSTRY & I heard that it is flourishing now, not just in India but everywhere).
  
  I had spoken casually about the events of the past year with around 50 odd people during the last couple of weeks & almost everyone has something negative to say about 2008. Many vouched that it had been the worst year that they have ever come across. Most of them, infact, equated their personal grieves with the year & remarked that the year has been terrible for both personal & professional lives. The reasons they cited are far too many like Loss of dear ones / Hospitalizations / Monetary loss / Work related stress / Unwanted expenses / External market conditions / this & that.
  
  I just wanted to take this opportunity & reflect upon the significant events/reactions that took place in my life during the last year, to decide if this year had been good for me or not. So, I made a list & these are the important happenings of my life in 2008.
  
  I started to think of a diversification from my HR business & actually did it in a big scale.
  
  Our HR business suffered badly due to my lack of focus (because of the new venture) & the external market conditions. From 7 working members it has come down to 3 now.
  
  Our family shifted to another house.
  
  I lost my maternal grandfather & my paternal grandmother.
  
  We moved into a big, spacious & a very expensive office (for my new business).
  
  Got married to a lovely girl, who has been & still remains a great friend / guide.
  
  Borrowed a huge amount(really huge for my standard) from various sources for the new venture.
  
  Still borrowing a substantial amount steadily every month to manage the business overheads.
  
  Both my vehicles, car & the bike, drowned in the flood at our area late last year & still under repair. Have not estimated the cost of repair as yet.
  
  Market looks gloomy & do not know what is in store for both my businesses.
  
  I have always valued friendship very highly & in 2008 this particular ‘ship’ traveled quite a long distance up in my heart as my dear friends stood by me strongly & contributed immensely in a lot of ways.
  
  And many other insignificant events.
  
  Now what do I make out of this year? If I look at the events plainly, then I would have to conclude that the negatives clearly overshadow the positives & 2008 should be termed as a bad year for me too. At the end of the day, for the balance sheet to look rosy, the assets & earnings should be more than the liabilities & expenses. But what am I left with? Am I supposed to be happy or not? Would I be able to manage & survive this recession? Have I bitten more than what I could chew? Lots of unanswered questions & incomplete answers.

But somehow I feel a lot of satisfaction with the year 2008 as it has, kind of, made me realize a lot of things about life. It has opened a lot of new avenues for me & it has brought me an inch closer to my dreams. My entire thinking process has changed during last year & I have learnt to look at things from various perspectives now. I have always considered myself a risk-taker, but this year I surprised even myself with some bold decisions I made, which could even be considered as ‘dangerous’ to an extent. The year 2008 might pretty well become the most important year of my life (‘might be’ only).

Starting a business of this magnitude was no easy task for an ordinary person like me, who did not even had the eligibility of getting a bank loan then (even now Iam not eligible, they say). A lot of thinking went into my decision about starting this venture & I was totally aware of the repercussion & the hardship involved enroute to the safe zone. I had deliberately chosen the ‘Road less traveled’ & I know clearly well that the path is not going to be easy. (But I would be lying if Iam saying that I expected this kind of financial crisis & such a big economic slump).

I have heard someone say that in ancient Chinese dictionary, there would be 2 meanings for the word ‘Crisis’ – one would be ‘Danger’ & the other ‘Opportunity’. I just chose to believe the second meaning & Iam totally optimistic that things would change for better soon. I clearly understand my responsibilities & what is important now is to cross this passage of life safely with minimal damage. I realize that a lot is dependent on my confidence level & am not allowing any negative thoughts to peep in my mind even for a minute.

I do not own any valuable materialistic possession at the moment, do not have any investments, am completely unprepared for any emergency expenses. But what I have now is Loads of confidence in my mind & heart / bag full of dreams / ability to work hard / an ever supporting wife / fantastic friends. Will these be enough for one to realize his dreams? I hope so.

Analysts have predicted that 2008 would be much better compared to what we have in store during 2009 & they fear that the worst is yet to come. Come what may, life has to go on & my eternal ambition of “Leaving my name in the journals of history” will continue to fuel my journey ahead. "Miles to go, before I sleep”.

Big dreams, High hopes, Long way to go, Huge Mountains to scale. But I have time. I have confidence. I have the right aptitude & attitude. I have tasted both success & failure. I know my limitations. I have people rooting for my success. I have my whole life in front of me. Thank you 2008.

சுடும் வரை நெருப்பு..

சுற்றும் வரை பூமி..

போராடும் வரை மனிதன்.!

- வைரமுத்து