It seems that we human beings cannot live without breaking the time stream down into discrete chunks. Maybe it’s because of the repetition of night and day over twenty-four hours, or the repetition of four seasons over 365 days. As a species, we are indubitably temporal – our existence made up of repetitive cycles.
Each new year is a new beginning. It is a time to renew oneself, as one looks at the dying year and the newborn year at the same time, Janus-like. The past is dead, dying in small bits even as I type this – and the new year is already 8 days old. Here I sit in front of the computer, blaming myself for things still left undone, and promising to do better this year – yes, the old business of New Year Resolutions. Thankfully, I have stopped making them publicly.
Looking back, the past year has not been that bad on the intellectual front. I completed one hundred blog posts – though most of them were embellished book reviews which I had already posted on Goodreads – and have established my presence here on the blogosphere to a certain extent. I managed to read a hundred books. I wrote a play and submitted it for a local competition (it did not win anything) and I have started work on a novel, which I hope, will not die a premature death.
In 2016, these are the resolutions I have made to myself:
- Read more Malayalam books.
- Read more on mythology and explore its intimate connection to the human psyche and creativity.
- Read some classics (both fiction and non-fiction) which have been on my list for quite a time.
- Write regularly.
Knowing myself, it’s quite likely that these resolutions may be honoured more in the breach than in observance. However, it’s always advisable to set targets so that one will have something to strive for.
Belated Happy New Year to all my friends!
Sacred Space 
Classics? Okay. Please read Passage to India and review it! I’ve just finished Galgut’s Arctic Summer which is a novel about EMF and it made me curious for your thoughts. Indeed, please read Arctic Summer too!
I have already read Passage to India long back, but did not like it that much. To review it, I’d need to read it again.
Maybe I should do it then.
Sending good thoughts for your novel. 🙂
Thank you Sylvia. I am such a lazy fellow that many novels have died on the vine – I lacked the tenacity to take it forward.
But I am writing regularly now, and finding it easier to keep my nose to the grindstone. Your good thoughts are appreciated!