Balance Sheet — 2021

Dear Friends

As we enter into 2022, I tried to do a recap of 2021. It was a tough year thanks to the epidemic and various stages of lockdowns. Many of us lost near and dear ones — I lost two close friends, and some near and dear ones lost their near and dear ones — but then maybe we realize that we must enjoy life and stop begrudging things which are beyond our control, as we don’t know when the wheel would stop turning!

Surprisingly, 2021 turned out the be one of the most productive years for me in terms of travel. I did a count and realized that I was traveling for a total of 99 days out of the 365 days! The travel encompassed all kinds of travel — sightseeing, trekking — domestic and international, religious trips, short hikes — and met lots of nice interesting people throughout the year.

In terms of the regular touristy stuff, spent a cumulative of 25 days in 2 parts (Feb/Mar and Nov/Dec) in the North East (though, need to say it was not the regular touristy stuff, but “thoda hat ke”) — visited Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland (Assam and Nagaland courtesy Anvayins) and I must say that the Indian sights can beat any international sights hands down. I also spend 3 weeks in Kashmir and never realized that India is so beautiful. We also had a nice short vacation around Surabhi’s birthday at Fort Jadhavgadh, Pune. To top it, we visited Statue of Unity in December — a grand sight to see, and also the temple at Poicha — a very nice serene atmophere on the banks of Narmada.

In terms of treks, it was a very pleasant change as Surabhi accompanied me for 2 of the 3 large treks I did in 2021. We went to Brahmatal (courtesy Indiahikes) and Annapurna Base Camp (courtesy Nepal Hiking Team, Ganga Raj Thapa and Narayan Dhamala). I also went for the Kashmir Great Lakes trek with the usual suspects (Kamal Piyush, Rajiv Sharma, Mukul Kandwal and Anil), and some not so usual suspects (courtesy TrekThe Himalayas). I had also planned a trek to Dayara Bugyal for many first time trekkers, but the pandemic put those plans to rest a week before we were to embark on the trek.

This year also introduced me to Urban Trekkers and did many local one day treks in the Sahyadris (Kalsubai Trek Harihar Gadh Trek, Kolad, Andharban Trek, Bhairavgadh Trek, Naneghat Trek) and hope that I am able to do at least a dozen treks with Utkarsh Arora this year! I also went for a short hike to Pavagadh with Divyesh Shah and also had a nice short fun trip at his farmhouse whilst attending a marriage function in Vadodara.

Then there was the Yayawar gang with whom we went to Mandwa, Nashik, Jawhar and a night walk to Siddhivinayak Temple.

To end the year, there were 2 marriage functions in Vadodara where I met many relatives and friends after a long time — especially Chandni’s marriage was real fun over 4 days!

So all in all, a good year despite what was happening around us. I hope 2022 is also equally exciting, and I continue on my path to becoming less judgemental about the people around me and enjoy each and every moment of life!

Wish you all a happy, prosperous and fruitful 2022!