As the year comes to a close, I can confidently say that the one feeling that I have constantly had through the year has been that of shortage of time – so many things to do, yet so little time. This is characterized in this posting too – I have just a few minutes to wrap this up.

• The recency effect ensures that the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks is the one high recall incident of the year. A section of the press (eg. Vir Sanghvi on Mint) has been talking about how mature & measured the Indian government’s reaction to the incident has been. I am a subscriber to this point of view.
• I do realize that there might be a lot more pressing issues than curbing public smoking for India. But you have to give it to Ramadoss! This one surely is welcome.
• The 2008 financial meltdown is being hailed as a once-in-a-lifetime events. Being a Warren Buffet fan, this surely is one heck of an opportunity if you have maintained decent liquidity levels (as mentioned before – Liquidity for grabbing an opportunity!). Only time will tell how best I make use of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
• Post the terror attacks, there have been reactions of varying nature – call for a revolution, change of ministers, sacking of officials, call for technocracy, etc. For me the most important reaction would be the sense of awakening or revolution in every individual of this country. The realization that every one has to make a difference through their actions – small or big, high impact or low, political or otherwise, in every day actions or something over and above. It could be as simple as applauding someone else doing something to this effect. Its a matter of numbers (read masses) & their actions (not just intent or wishes).
• The Oz cricket team just got belted by the South Africans. And the men in blue have had a good year. Hopefully this will continue into the next year. Nothing does better than a cricket victory in giving our nation a mass high.
• On the personal front, the practicalities of a 2 kid family really hit us head on this year. With the youngest kid crossing the 12 month mark, things have started improving. 2009 will see us returning to some sort of a normalcy from the “having kids” phase of our lives.
• This has also been a year where I probably read more on electronic media (laptop / mobile / PSP) than via traditional media (paper / books). I anticipate this trend to continue ..while my search for an all in one hand held device (currently on Nokia N95, iPod Nano & PSP) continues.
• Health was a priority when I started the year & this got off the rail during the second part of the year. The positive thing is, I don’t have to think much about a priority for the next year.
• The year also marked my first visits to New Zealand & Japan, my first bungee and my first river rafting (a very tame version though).
• First concrete step towards a dream home too!

Well, this is the kind of babbling you can expect to read on my blog going forward. Paucity of time will continue to be an issue into 2009. Miles to go ……

Happy New Year to all of you out there!!!