2012

2012 has been a memorable year. You know the kinds you remember when you are eighty, perhaps in a rocking chair wondering whether the dinner will have mashed potatoes. But the reason it will be memorable is because of the lessons I learned.

At the end of 2012, I am half a lawyer. I am not the confused teen I was, I know myself, my dreams and my ambitions. It has been a roller coaster year; there has been joy and sorrow, love and heartbreaks, calmness and depression and all the various volatile emotions ranging from the mad temper tantrums to those moments of perfect happiness.

I changed. Dreams changed. Friends changed. Family changed. Everything changed or atleast my perceptions did.

So lets round up a brilliant 2012,

So year started with the same resolutions as the previous ones. However, like the previous ones I haven’t fulfilled any of them. I honestly don’t remember much about January except that was the first winter in Law Faculty. I remember drinking the sweet tea from those sticky tea glasses and shivering for the morning eight thirty classes.

February was completely different, I was interning for the first time in my life at an “Uncle” law firm. The lessons I learned there (academic and non-academic) will stay with me all my life. It was my first brush with office life and while we were treated to a party on the second day there, backstabbing, gossiping, office culture were things whose existence I acknowledged for the first time. Frankly, I learned as much about law as you would learn from reading a Law Commission Report but what I did learn were Three Golden Rules. These rules have helped me through countless hard times. February was also the month of Comic Con, which was like visiting my childhood again. Pinki, Chacha Chaudhary, Tinkle were comics I consumed by the dozen. I suppose seeing them in existence ten/twelve years later brought sweet satisfaction, that even though Cartoon Network had changed there are things which remain the same. February also brought my first semester result, I have not jumped so high with joy since. It was also the month when I first kissed a boy.

March was Muscat. They say third time is a charm and it certainly was. If it felt like home in year before that, this year we did homely things, wined and dined with neighbours, exchanged cups of sugar and stories. If I concentrate hard enough, I can feel myself standing at the Seeb beach with those round stones under my feet and the turquoise water in front of me, amazingly I can recall watching the group of Muslim school girls chasing each other’s hijab as they flew in the cold sea air, the two Pakistani men who sat silently gazing at the horizon perhaps remembering home. Muscat is a tumultuous time always, the need to stay away yet the yearning for home.

April and May are months which flew by fast. Exams, notes and comprehending who were friends and who weren’t sum them up. Unfortunately I remember a lot of tears, heartbreak and anger. This was my low point of the year. I would love to disregard this time however it was rather significant. I was insecure about myself, doubting every move I made and had the confidence of science student giving an accountancy exam.

And then came June, I was at my second intern. The first ten days I spent as an actual law intern and I worked on drafting, Manupatra, privacy policy agreements (terms I had heard for the first time).  The rest twenty days were a never ending party, endless laughter accompanied with terrible read yummy dhaba food. I became friends with people from different backgrounds and colleges, it was exhilarating to know that I could go toe to toe with a student from a NLU. I will always remember this month not only for the lessons but for the laughter because it was endless. It reverberated through the room, I can hear us laughing about the things we did. The simple joys of food or smoking and having your senior come over and ask for a smoke or the rush of having spent an entire day doing productive work  and coming home to tell your Mum about it. It was about those small things and large but most importantly, June gave “me” back. I was me.

(second part coming next week or when I stop smiling because I cant stop remembering how much we laughed)