Journal 2022- January to June

Hobbies, activities, experiences, pandemic, lockdown, journaling, food. Classes, exams, webinars, new city, wave, podcasting, books etc.

My last journal stopped at December 2021

As part of my New Year’s resolution, I joined Vocal Media and published my first article there. Please do follow and support me there as well.

Early in the chilly new year's morning, my maternal family and we started a small road trip to Kayankulam, in the beautiful district of Alappuzha. This was also my first time travelling through the newly inaugurated Alappuzha bypass, which is a remarkable structure built in recent years.

It is one of the first elevated highways in Kerala. I was excited to travel to the south after a gap of 2 years, that too by road. The significant part of it was the Alappuzha byepass.

All the roads were very well constructed and maintained. Kerala now has much better roads than in the past. I'm pretty much impressed. While returning back, we stopped at Purakkad temple for a visit and lunch thereafter. After lunch, we took photos, as usual, sitting outside.

In the evening, we had some fritters for snacks. Similarly, I had to fetch some banana chips for my friends. In the evening, dad dropped my brother and me at Centre Square mall, as usual, our plan was also to sneak into some delicacies.

First roamed around the place, then saw the winter decorations and models before heading to the food court. En route, we encountered Subway and ordered Veg Shammi wrap, which tasted mediocre. Then we climbed to Burger King and ordered two softies and one taco. Both were brilliant. Taco was 100% worth it and cheap too.

The next day I had to leave for Bangalore so as to resume my studies. Early in the morning, I arrived at an isolated station on the outskirts of Bangalore. Semester took off smoothly with new subjects and teachers.

Within three days, the Omicron virus level in the city reached an alarming level thus, institutions had to be closed until further notice. That evening, four of my MEC classmates were in the city for work. We hung out in Forum Mall and had a light dinner.

Read my article on Omicron in India

Since my classmates were infected with the virus, I had to undertake a COVID test to ensure I was negative before leaving the city, which was the best option. I must appreciate my friend Nandu for taking me to all the COVID-19 testing centres to get ourselves tested. (I was negative)

The city was extremely dangerous, and the situation back in Kerala was relatively better. 6th there was a special function at my ancestral house as it was my Grand father’s birthday. I took the city bus from the Railway station to Fort Kochi. The roads in the city were now the best.

That week Sunday 9th was my mother’s cousin’s engagement, with a lot of guests, a grand Indian buffet dinner and a lot more. Since Bangalore was in partial lockdown, the classes went online, and I could join from home.

Next week my family was infected by a viral cold (not COVID). In the coming days, I was invited by NSS MEC to judge an event on Republic Day special debate. The debate was in Malayalam, and hence it was a different experience. Similarly, my assignment deadlines for college were also approaching and hence I was engaged with that.

I also had my podcast episode released on the topic- Politics in Everyday Life. My grandmother got ill; thus, she had to be hospitalised. My mom went to stay with her at the hospital. I completed reading Shekhar Gupta’s Anticipating India book- an awesome collection of his best editorial articles in The Indian Express and The Hindustan Times.

February

My brother and I were alone at home for some days. In the first week of February, roughly a month after colleges were closed, the university decided to open once again. Unfortunately, I was not willing to leave as my brother would be alone since he had exams, my mother was in the hospital, and my father was in Trivandrum. Thus, we figured out a way, i.e. my brother would go and stay at his Grandparent’s home. I was too sad to leave for Bangalore to see my family in crisis.

On the 8th, the entire state of Karnataka was put on alert due to the Hijab issue. Holidays were announced due to the same to colleges as the protests can spread. 9th onwards, it was a holiday, but I got a call from my mother saying that my grandmother is in hospital and please do come back.

I didn’t understand the seriousness of the situation, so I booked a 12 h train from 4 pm. With all my might, I packed something quite randomly. I was also selected for a panel discussion on Cybersecurity which was to be held next week.

With the packed food, I managed that night on the train. At 3 AM, I woke up when the train reached Aluva, as I had to get down at the next stop- Ernakulam station of Kochi city. Suddenly to my shock, I got to know that my grandmother had passed away that night. That day was also supposed to be my mom’s birthday, I wanted to wish her personally, but now her mother passed away. What else can be more be more devastating than that? Now for the next thirty minutes, I was restless till I arrived at the stop station.

My father came to pick me up, and I got into the car. There was an awkward silence in the car till I reached my grandparents. That night no one in my family slept, the funeral was planned for that day, and a lot of people visited at home. I wrote an article two weeks later dedicated to my grandmother.

I skipped my entire online class sessions that day, it was only the next day I joined. On the 16th, it was the day of the panel discussion, and for the train that night, I left for Bangalore. On the 17th night was helping the team with logistics. 18th and 19th, we had the Battle of Brains event, the first offline event we had on campus.

I participated alongside my partner Shivam to get the third prize. For the crisis event, I was in the host team thus, I couldn’t participate. That night I had my train booked to head back home for the rest of the functions related to the funeral and aftermath.

Early in the morning on Sunday, I reached Aluva. I went home, got ready and headed for my grandparents’ home. I met my mom after ten days, and I felt so bad for not being with her at the grieving moment. The next day was the main function, and everyone was present at the occasion. We still missed my elder cousin, who couldn’t be with us. He couldn’t come all the way from Australia for the same. That evening I had a train to catch.

24th was the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. It came around very surprising.

In the last week, MEC Btech batchmates had an outing, and I was also invited. Tried Naan (bread) with Soya Chaap for the first time. Met Ansif T A after a very long time. He hosts an amazing Malayalam Podcast.

Released the UP Elections podcast episode, which was based on elections to India’s most important state election with Rahul Ramachandran Menon

March

The month of the march began peacefully. At the first weekend, I tried Egg Dum Biriyani, which tasted fine. The third week of march was the time for mid-semester exams. Almost all the exams were fine for me except French. Our 5th exam happened to be on the day of Holi.

I published a detailed article on the historical aspects of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict based on a book I read. It was published in the History of Yesterday.

Since a lot of my classmates were from the North, everyone celebrated it well. That weekend after the exam was a slight relief. Next Thursday, I packed back home for something special. I was invited to CUSAT MUN 2022 as a scribe for AIPPM. CUSAT has had a lot of connections with the MEC MUN Society, and I had also applied for their Executive Board Applications, and thus I was selected. I travelled in an AC three-tier for the first time in a long time.

Early in the morning, I reached my home town. I came back home after a month’s time, and it was great to be back. I could also feel the normalcy and happiness coming back to my family’s faces (after my grandmother died.) After getting ready, I had a car to pick me up from the gate. That was really an out-of-the-world feeling. Although that grand pickup experience ended there. For the rest of the days, I had to travel by metro.

At the venue, I was accompanied by volunteers and was made to sit in the front row of the auditorium. Then we were escorted to the respective committee halls. I was shocked to see the number of school students. Since we had two agendas, we began with agenda 1. On the second day, we had a crisis, then wrapped up with agenda 1.

After day 2 we had socials, where I met a lot of my MUN friends, most of them were meeting for the first time after the pandemic. On Day 3, the committee had documentation and the closing ceremony. CUSAT MUN was great experience for me after a long period of time. Physical MUNs have more value than online ones, for sure.

I started a new technical article series called #SimplifyTheTech for people to understand and comprehend tough, complex topics. The first article of the series was published that week.

Three days of CUSAT MUN 2022 was an out-of-the-world experience after 2 years without offline MUN. It was my pleasure to be part of the executive board member of the AIPPM committee alongside Rohith Santhosh and Adrian. Cusat mun has marked a standard for committees, EB members, food, hospitality and delegate participation.

Hurriedly I went back home, packed my bag and caught my train back to Bangalore. On the 31st, the college had the ethnic day, where students could come in ethnic wear, there would be music, dance and a lot more. Since India is a very diverse country and the campus is also diverse; thus ethnic day brought out the ethnic diversity on the campus.

April

In the first week of April, my mid sem papers were distributed in the class. One of my old batchmates and good friend Alan Bince visited me in Bangalore. Both of us walked till Koramangala, then we tried Californian Burrito, which was the chain I encountered only in Bangalore. We walked around the entire place until he had to catch up with another set of his friends.

On the 8th and 9th was IR MUN. Since I was in the MUNSOC team, I was part of the Technical Team; hence I was to be there at the venue for both days. On the 7th, we had a mock drill and testing session. On both days, we were provided food and refreshments. Thus both the days were quite luxurious, just that you had to wake up quite early. Published an article which described India’s triumph over the Omicron wave.

On the 12th, I headed back home for the Easter holidays. I had to board from K R Puram Railway Station. The place was quite remote, away from important areas of the city, and I had a feeling that I had landed somewhere in AP and not in Bangalore. On the 13th, I reached home that day, I took an off from college and was enjoying myself at home.

14th was my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary, and thus we headed for Ancestral home for the Temple festival in the Old City area of Kochi. Talking about that time is the biggest in the entire city of Kochi, and it is also the largest Konkani temple in India. For four days, we were there in temple town only, staying in Grandparent's house.

On Friday, it was my cousin’s engagement, so we took the coastal route to Kodungaloor, which is in the neighbouring district of Thrissur. It was really a satisfactory drive. Coming back, we came via Fort Kochi Ro-Ro service, where we could carry the car on the ferry across the lake.

I also had the opportunity to visit Shell’s fuel station, which is quite rare in India, and I think it is the sole one in Kochi. Sunday, we finally came home. My train was only on Monday evening; thus, I could take some rest. That day I took an off from college. Published an article on KTU S8 Academic guide.

Next Week I encountered bad news from home, stating that my brother got burned from hot boiling water. That was so sad to hear, and I was in Bangalore. That weekend I went to the subway and tried a wrap. At college, we had to make our final submission of all our assignments for the semester.

29th and 30th of April was our college class trip to the Kengeri campus. I don’t know why but a section of the class decided not to attend the same. It was a staying trip thus I had to pack my bag. We started from our campus on the college bus. The best part for me was that for some distance, the bus travelled through a tiny stretch of the Bangalore-Mysore Expressway. I somehow made the documentation in charge of the trip, and I still don’t know why.

On the 30th, after returning from Kengeri, I was heading back home to visit my brother. That trip was special because, for the first time, I was about to travel in an AC sleeper bus that too the newly inaugurated and commissioned K-SWIFT bus service of KSRTC, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. The bus was really luxurious and compared to private players it was fairly cheap as well. Thus we can see that service was also better and hospitality was also up to the mark.

It was heavily raining while I got into the bus. I could witness different places and landmarks on the road. The bus stopped at Krishnagiri, a bordering district of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for dinner. Since I already had my food, I didn’t have anything.

May

Early in the morning, I woke to the May morning. I realised that the bus reached only Palakkad, so I decided to sleep more. Then I woke when the Bus reached Thrissur and called my father to update the status of the bus. Even then, I didn’t plan to get up. It was only when the bus reached Angamaly I woke up. By then, the conductor/caretaker of the bus had also approached me and woke me up. I got down at Aluva, and my father came to pick me up.

Released the podcast episode in which I and Ansif T A collaborated.

I finally reached home and met my brother and everyone. Two days later, I got back that too in the Karnataka SRTC semi-sleeper bus. My semester was soon coming to an end. The plan was made for Lyceum valedictory, which is the send-off for our seniors from the department.

I was made the technical head (again, IDK why) and had to look into audio, video, and graphical presentations for the day. With that event, our semester came to a close. The event was on the 13th. That day after the colourful event, I had a SWIFT bus to catch in the evening, so I had to run to catch the same. On the bus, we were provided with packed refreshments. Published an article on Political events to watch out for in 2022.

The next day, early in the morning, I arrived home. It was still dark as I reach early enough and went back to sleep again. So, why did I come home that day? My family were to stay in a Five Star Hotel, and I have documented my experience in detail, so please have a read. After the Five star event, we came home. I spent one more day at home before heading back to Bangalore.

Now, my exams were to start, it was the 18th of May, and my crucial end-semester exams were to begin on the 20th. My first exam was in South Asia, which was fairly easy and straightforward. The second was elective, which was good. The third was International Political Economy which had quite high-level questions yet manageable. The fourth was the US and Latin America, which was fine. Fifth was the Research methodology which was good. The last exam was French, and I was nearly terrified of it. The exam turned out to be okayish yet quite frightening in nature.

Due to my exams, I missed a couple of functions. May last week was the Thrikkakara byelection; hence my activity was to watch the campaigning and analysis of the same. Those two weeks were one of the longest, and it literally tested my patience in Bangalore as I wanted to be back home badly.

June

My last exam was on 1st June hence I had to vacate my PG that day. In the evening, I also booked my train back home, and I was excited to head back. On 2nd June, early in the morning, I reached home. My holidays started, which was the best part now. 3rd June was the result of the Thrikkakara bypoll, and I was glued to the TV from morning. Read my analysis of the result. My brother’s school began when I reached back, so I really missed his presence throughout the daytime.

5th was our grand family meeting in Ernakulam; we really missed our Grandmother that day, who would have been actively interacting with all the relatives out there. We met famous travel vlogger Sujith Bhakthan who also happens to be our distant relative, at the event and clicked a photograph with us.

On the 7th, my friends Vivek and Aswin visited me. We both went out for snacks from Shenoys, which is a famous restaurant in Aluva. We had pav bhaji and chaats. My mom left for Salem (in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu) on the 10th, early in the morning. Thus my brother and I were alone at home for a day. That night we prepared Pasta and Garlic Bread.

15th was my birthday, and nothing special happened in particular. One special thing that started that day was my internship began. Similarly, I completed an article which I would like to talk about as my special article was published on that weekend. I have been working on the same for a few days already.

On the 16th night, my paternal grandparents came to our house for a special occasion on the 17th, where my uncle, aunt and cousin also joined. On the 18th, I accompanied my dad to drop them back. That evening we had a grand family meeting organised by my mother's cousin, who came from the US. It was followed by a grand dinner. My favourite was vegetable cutlet, veg dum biriyani and paneer. It has been a long time since I attended a function like this. 19th was a rest day for us at home.

On 24th, it was the fourth Saturday; my mother and brother had a doctor’s appointment. After that, we went to my mom’s friend who came from the USA and then we had a lot of shopping to do from Kochi Broadway. That night we ordered from a newly opened restaurant in Kochi, Naivedhya. The food was okay-okay but it was expensive. Their parathas were fine, but paneer wasn’t up to the mark.

That month I watched the entire series of House of Cards on Netflix. I completed a course on Geopolitics of Europe from Coursera and also started reading two books- One on Indian Elections and the other by Stephen Hawkings. Apart from that, I completed my Internship presentation. I also helped my family in the big and small ways I could throughout that period.

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