I will keep this short and sweet (hopefully) and divide the whole thing into a bunch of chapters.

Physical Health

This year started badly with the knee injury and stuff. This injury was not just limited to the knee. The right ankle, right knee, left hip and the right shoulder all were affected in differing degrees. However being under physiotherapy for 9 months really helped and I ended the year pain-free.

I started going to the gym and focusing on strength training this year. It was an interesting experience. Generally I find the gym to be a very boring place, however since I a training for the Basic Mountaineering Course, the gym started to grow on me. Also, in absence of any other physical movement because of the injury and rehab, the gym was the only place I could go and move physically.

I ended the year with being able to do 10 reps of body-weight barbell squats (i.e. the barbell + plates weigh about 80 kilos) and 5 pull ups (only body weight)

Running is still not fully comfortable. I resumed running (on physio advise) and I can do 3k comfortably before the pain sets in.

Score: 8/10

Mental Health

This year has been very very kind. Unlike the previous one which a major disaster. Despite the setbacks and the heartbreak I think this year was stellar mentally. I am much more secure in who I am and what role I play in the world around me.

Score: 8/10

Work life

Work was a bit difficult during the start of the year. However it has been a getting better month-on-month.

I was part of 2 major rewrites / re-architecture of our back-end infra and IaaC which led to huge reduction in stability and operational toil. These projects were quite challenging and fun. We are still migrating the existing system to the new ones.

However, I feel significantly burned out and I have decided to take a break. I stopped being empathetic to our customers and then I realised that I needed to take a step back in order to gain a new perspective/reset my nervous system.

Score: 7/10

Personal life

This was very exciting this year; filled with many ups and downs. The year started with a heartbreak, which was of my own making. I am a certifiable idiot who doesn't seem to learn anything form his mistakes. Hopefully this was the last time something like this happens.

I also started dating an incredible person. Even though it didn't last long as I would have liked, it was still awesome. Getting back to dating after 6 years of not-dating was interesting. It was fun and scary and exciting at the same time; but mostly it was fun.

I also moved to Bangalore after 6 years of not living here. A lot of my friends and community lives in this city and I am an idiot for not moving here earlier. Quality of life has significantly improved after the move.

I left the parent's home in 2015 and since then I've lived outside. This year my parents visited my home in Pune. This was the first time I was hosting my parents in my house. It was an interesting experience. It was fun.

Score: 7/10

Things I bought

Bryce 2p Tent

I bought the Bryce 2p tent from Paria Outdoor Products. I was eyeing this tent ever since the Alpine Field Bootcamp and finally decided to ask a friend to get it from the USA.

The saddest part is that I still haven't been able to use this tent in the field. This is something I plan to change in 2025.

Networking Gear

A friend was cleaning out his house in Bangalore and they sold me - Unifi AP-AC-Pro - Unifi USG - TP-Link 8-port PoE switch.

I haven't yet set these up in the new Bangalore Apartment. There were some internet issues to sort out before I can use this gear.

Activities

Travel

Sadly 2024 was not a year of too much travelling. Could not hike as much because of the knee injury and things at work kept me from travelling etc. However as I am finishing the year on a healthier note, I am hopeful that the next year will be fun with lots of travel and hiking.

PyCon 2024 Bengaluru

I volunteered at PyCon 2024 in Bangalore. I took up the task of laying Ethernet cables and a WiFi-AP so that the speakers could use some internet. This was extremely fun. I have never volunteered at this scale before and just being in a community was extremely fun.

Kumara-parvatha Hike

I decided on a whim that I would "organise" a trek to Kumara-parvatha for my friends. Soon it was a group of 14 people. Even though the terrain was unforgiving and most of us hiked only till Seesha-Parvatha (1km from the top), it was an amazing hike.

This was also my first experience as an organizer. I am good at this and others agree too. I will do more of these.

Whats in 2025 ??

Basic Mountaineering Course

I am going to the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling for my BMC. This was almost 2 years in the making. The admission process has a year long waitlist. More importantly, you are expected to be in good physical shape.

I feel confident and strong at this point in my life. I am hopeful that this will be a very fun experience.

After this, I plan to get the Advanced course as well (AMC) sometime next year maybe. Let's see. For now, single focus is on BMC.

No new plans apart form this.

I want 2025 to be a chill year, with some more travelling / hiking. Thats it. :)

Thanks