About this time last year I chose to take a break from Blogging:

 a break that has lasted a little over a year. I was beginning to stray from a self-imposed protocol in the selection of content. Also, some well- meaning feedback needed to be taken on-board.……

……. It is an exhilarating feeling to access Blog-Stats for the year of my absence reflecting a viewership of over 700 from 38 countries from across the world with China as the only notable exception. That there were over 25 “Likes” registered during my “exile” is the cherry on top.

Like any other period in history, my 12-month absence too has been a collage of events & non-events.

Most significant have been the ascent  transcending predictions of  “Iron Man” & the passing away of the “Man of Steel”,  the latter acknowledged through a brief albeit respectful obit  by the men “Who also make Steel” . It seems like yesterday when these very men had issued full pagers in the Financial Press decrying the Man’s accomplishments & when Jamshedpur stood polarized about the Man who intuitively  made friends,enemies , & also Steel.

There were three “dispatches” which I deeply mourned ; no “matches” of any consequence barring one which I should have liked to but did not attend  (that , as I often say , is a story for another day ) , & no “ hatches” warranting a mention .

I retired from Packaging Industry after a multi – faceted innings of over 35 years & was delighted at the upload on You-Tube, a first for me , of my final Presentation at a Packaging Conclave . While the number of hits was impressive , it was soon overwhelmed by an upload of a 3 year old’s argument with his mom about Cup Cakes : have you watched me on You Tube became futile thereafter .

There were a couple of hospital vigils, thankfully both with a happy ending.

I took up a full-time job post retirement , in a field completely new to me : an enjoyably huge challenge to understand a rather complex range of products as far removed from Packaging as Chalk is from Cheese. The Packaging fraternity do not appear to have written me off yet & the occasional phone call or e mail from them never fails to bring me some joy.

Substantial gains at the Stock Exchange on low hanging fruits : made hay in the sun- shine partly in the wake of  Lotus-ubiquity , & partly as an offshoot of the Who- Blinks- First played out in Global sweepstakes in Ukrine. That & the non-dilution of Bank F D Interest Rates were the bright spots in my otherwise inert Financial Planning.

Guru Nanak , of the “IDP Guru Nanak & I” fame has finally claimed a rightful  place on a straight wall in my Sitting Room & keeps a benevolent eye on events & non events in my life : whoever said Blogging was an exercise in futility !!

My move from Pune to Gurgaon with most of my personal effects wasn’t worthy of a mention anywhere , even in passing  .  A certain move to New Delhi caught media attention with amazingly sharp focus on inventory of  personal staff  & effects.  There were those who moved without causing a ripple & some who caused ripples without moving.  All in all , it was a season for moving experiences of various hues.

There were high profile Jail _Bail_ ke _Khel . Yerwada , unable to keep up with Ins & Outs of a certain recalcitrant , may end up with one more depending upon outcome of a case long buried & recently exhumed. A self –recusing ( a word I was hitherto not familiar with ) heel -cooler , in for a seemingly innocuous misdemeanour ,  ( in less than a minute in a moving elevator how can it be otherwise !!  ) is doing precisely that .  Meanwhile , the man of enormous means & a title more becoming than his stature  continues to languish at Tihar given his inability to furnish the Bail amount . A period  one might say with ample display of “Prisoner’s dilemma” in all its facets.

And finally , &  by no means the least in importance ( indeed topmost in my order of importance ) was a close encounter with ASL 7459 , Dada’s old Desoto : The very same which served well , whether during long after-eight drives or in long-distance sojourns with eight crammed into the old faithful ; the one which enabled driving lessons for growing up lads & lasses in the clan  ; the one which had an accident-free record barring the small & inconsequential run-in with a Milkman on his bicycle .

The Registration number has changed ; the body redressed in a quaint black & white ; the engine replaced with a powerful new engine specially brought in from the US : re-built in every aspect but with  a thoughtful retention of the Baby-Wipers on the front windscreen , & the Instruments panel , still operating with its erstwhile efficiency. The entire extended family owes a round of applause for Vivek , who has restored the old faithful with immense passion , to much more than her erstwhile glory.

Cheers for now & all the very best to all