Following the tradition, here are my 2016 highlights.
Lowest Point of the Year: As was the case for most folks in USA and around the world, the year was dominated by the US election coverage and the unfortunate ascendance of Donald Trump. We received US citizenship in early 2016 and voted in USA for the first time. Once the election results were announced, it felt exactly like failing a major exam that you had studied for.  We were clearly living in a bubble because I didn’t know a single Trump supporter personally.  And now we have our fingers crossed and hoping for the best!
New Stuff this year: In the spring of this year, we finally said goodbye to the townhouse where we lived for the past 10 years and moved to a beautiful single family house in Potomac, MD. As expected we spent the rest of the year and most of our money in setting up and furnishing the house. Along with the naya ghar, we also got a nayi gaadi – succumbing to the lure of a mini-van to haul the kids and home improvement stuff.  Badiya hai!
Travels this year: We started this year with a trip to India with a seven-month-old Tanay and a 4 year old Annika – which was hectic as usual. The India trip as usual consisted of a mini stopover in Dubai, a side-trip to Bangalore and several local visits to meet family. My sister and her family visited us (their very first time in the United States) in June this year and we had a 10 day round trip . The itinerary was Potomac – Philadelphia – New York City- Finger Lakes – Niagara Falls – Corning – Hershey Chocolate factory – Charlottesville – Luray -Potomac. Later in October, I had a conference in Hawaii and we managed to mix pleasure with business as Seejo and the kids tagged along as well. We spent 3 additional days enjoying the wonders of Big Island, Hawaii. Besides this, I made the trek to Chicago twice (for ASCO and RSNA), day trips to Raleigh, NC and Indianapolis, IN all for work. We also had a trip to New York to meet with some of my dad’s school friends and another trip to Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum to meet with my under-grad friends
Books This Year: Given the politically charged climate in the country, its no wonder that my book choices leaned that way this year. John Adams & 1776 by David McCollough, Ta Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me and Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance are some of the books I read – but I am no closer to deciphering why people voted for Trump! Side note:  I am focusing on the non-fiction reads, here…I read a ton of mysteries, popular fiction books & romance novels too.
Update from the Kids: The kids are growing and thriving. Annika comes up with special gems such as asking if she is Cinderella when we asked her to help clean the living room or questioning our schooling when we don’t solve a maths problem like she does. She is enjoying her ballet lessons and gymnastic lessons and swimming lessons and in general ,being a bright , curious , happy kid.  She also enjoys being a teacher to her younger brother but confesses that being a teacher is hard work. Tanay started walking and eating proper food and rocking one word sentences that conveyed everything he wants to say this year. His first word incidentally was -chechi. But he is first and foremost a mama’s boy (mom is not sure if she should be surprised, annoyed or delighted –sometimes she is all three).
Overall Summary : Surreal Year! –which was the incidentally the word of year from Merriam-Webster.
Following the tradition, here are my 2016 highlights.
Lowest Point of the Year: As was the case for most folks in USA and around the world, the year was dominated by the US election coverage and the unfortunate ascendance of Donald Trump. We received US citizenship in early 2016 and voted in USA for the first time. Once the election results were announced, it felt exactly like failing a major exam that you had studied for.  We were clearly living in a bubble because I didn’t know a single Trump supporter personally.  And now we have our fingers crossed and hoping for the best!
New Stuff this year: In the spring of this year, we finally said goodbye to the townhouse where we lived for the past 10 years and moved to a beautiful single family house in Potomac, MD. As expected we spent the rest of the year and most of our money in setting up and furnishing the house. Along with the naya ghar, we also got a nayi gaadi – succumbing to the lure of a mini-van to haul the kids and home improvement stuff.  Badiya hai!
Travels this year: We started this year with a trip to India with a seven-month-old Tanay and a 4 year old Annika – which was hectic as usual. The India trip as usual consisted of a mini stopover in Dubai, a side-trip to Bangalore and several local visits to meet family. My sister and her family visited us (their very first time in the United States) in June this year and we had a 10 day round trip . The itinerary was Potomac – Philadelphia – New York City- Finger Lakes – Niagara Falls – Corning – Hershey Chocolate factory – Charlottesville – Luray -Potomac. Later in October, I had a conference in Hawaii and we managed to mix pleasure with business as Seejo and the kids tagged along as well. We spent 3 additional days enjoying the wonders of Big Island, Hawaii. Besides this, I made the trek to Chicago twice (for ASCO and RSNA), day trips to Raleigh, NC and Indianapolis, IN all for work. We also had a trip to New York to meet with some of my dad’s school friends and another trip to Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum to meet with my under-grad friends
Books This Year: Given the politically charged climate in the country, its no wonder that my book choices leaned that way this year. John Adams & 1776 by David McCollough, Ta Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me and Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance are some of the books I read – but I am no closer to deciphering why people voted for Trump! Side note:  I am focusing on the non-fiction reads, here…I read a ton of mysteries, popular fiction books & romance novels too.
Update from the Kids: The kids are growing and thriving. Annika comes up with special gems such as asking if she is Cinderella when we asked her to help clean the living room or questioning our schooling when we don’t solve a maths problem like she does. She is enjoying her ballet lessons and gymnastic lessons and swimming lessons and in general ,being a bright , curious , happy kid.  She also enjoys being a teacher to her younger brother but confesses that being a teacher is hard work. Tanay started walking and eating proper food and rocking one word sentences that conveyed everything he wants to say this year. His first word incidentally was -chechi. But he is first and foremost a mama’s boy (mom is not sure if she should be surprised, annoyed or delighted –sometimes she is all three).
Overall Summary : Surreal Year! –which was the incidentally the word of year from Merriam-Webster.Happy 2017,y’all!
