2006 Remembered - Intro

I had my stitches out yesterday, so I can see better and type better as a result. Rather than focusing on the feeling of emasculation and helplessness and revenge fantasies that plagued me over the past few years, I thought I'd just look back at the year that was.

2006 was a banner year. It started out in a big way. I started this new affair just before Christmas 2005. I was already in a relationship, and decided to carry on this affair with someone who was also in a long-term relationship of 7 years. But the affair became a relationship on January 01, around 2am. And from then on, until October 1 when it ended, this relationship became the major centerpiece of my year - my first significant relationship since 1999, and a lot of other firsts, which I'll touch upon in the monthly updates.

My uncle passed away this year, the first one in the immediate family to leave since 1998. This impacted my father deeply, and his physical and psychological condition worsened significantly after that. Parvez, my good friend from ETV had to undergo major heart surgery, and that made me ponder my own mortality.

I made a new year's resolution to travel extensively, and I got my wish - Sundarbans, Ethiopia, Singapore, Beijing and Goa - all are now checked off. More on that on the monthly review. After living a conservative existence, I was finally able to live like there's no tomorrow.

After talking about it for 5 years, in 2006, I sat for the GRE exam for the second time (the first time was in 1996). My verbal scores are in the 93rd percentile (top 7%) indicating significant progress in my language skills. I also finally got to put aside my fear of academia, and apply for a Ph.D program (again for the second time). Even if I don't get in, it's a major barrier broken, I can finally move on.

I have great plans for 2007. I'll write more about it when I've finished reviewing the year - month by month.

Here Goes.