2024 - A Reflection On The Year
The Year That Changed My Life
Dear Reader,
2024 is a very special year for me. This year has been a boon for me in many ways. Every year teaches us something which makes us ready for the years to come. This post is dedicated to my memories, both sad and happy, some of my favourite posts I read this year and also to account the entire stolen MacBook saga. Yes, for those who don’t know my dear M1 MacBook Air was stolen from my bedroom in the light of the day and I couldn’t find it at last. I took a break from writing and Substack because I can’t write long posts from my phone or iPad. Now, I’m writing this post from my new M2 MacBook Air. It’s really good and better than the previous one but… it’s like, when you have a piece of tech for a long time, you tend to miss it a lot after it’s gone away from you. I’ll never forget the memories I had with my old MacBook and will never forgive the smallest man who ever lived. The one who stole it. So, let’s begin with a month by month account of my year.
January:
I celebrated the new year for the very first time without my parents and family. I was in my college hostel surrounded by boys really different from me. They were shouting, cheering, dancing, screaming, breaking things, fighting among themselves for no reason and at last drinking. For me, New year is not at all about all this. I like celebrating new year in silence, enjoying the night of 31st with my family while relishing a nice dinner and then maybe watching something on the television until it’s midnight. Fortunately, this year, I am with my parents to celebrate the advent of 2025 the old way.
February:
This month started with a good and hyperventilating news. On 4th February, Taylor Swift announced her new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ during her Grammy award acceptance speech. I was watching this on a livestream in the morning while getting ready to go to college to appear for my exam. That news made me excited the whole day. I was patiently (not at all) waiting for the album to get released on April 19th. This was also the month when my 2nd semester in college began.
March:
I celebrated Holi, the festival of colours this month. I came back to my hometown and celebrated this festival with my family, because celebrating it with my hostel mates would be a nightmare for me. All of them were uncouth and even wilder than animals somehow. Glad I don’t live with them anymore.
April:
I remember this month for the one and only reason, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. Being a swiftie, I couldn’t ask for something better. I listened to the album and then after a few hours, Taylor shocked us yet again by announcing a companion album called ‘The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology’ which is another masterpiece like the standard edition.
May:
Nothing memorable happened this month. I was living or I should say struggling to live in the hostel. My roommates didn’t leave a single chance to make me mad. Playing music at an extremely loud volume, and calling their friends in the room which was just big enough for three people to live but instead, eight people would be in the room at one time, and I was the only one forced to be there. This was a pretty hot month. So much so, that we were given a week holiday. I went back to my hometown and spent some days with my parents.
June:
In the beginning of this month, our college organised MUN or Model United Nations. I participated as a delegate in the WHO committee. It was a good time. I made a lot of connections with brilliant speakers and kind hearted people. I didn’t win the award for the best delegate but the sweet remarks about me from other fellow delegates warmed my heart. By the end of June, I started feeling quite weak and ill. I had continuous fever for days. I would eat multiple paracetamols in a day but they had no positive effect. My legs felt like they had no life and when I would walk, it felt like I could fall down or pass out. I was feeling dizzy, a loss of appetite and overall had a very bad physical and mental health. I also had to look for an apartment to shift in as my college hostel allows the boys to live in for just one year. Due to my ill condition, my sweet parents came to my city and helped me in finding a new home.
July:
I shifted to a new apartment on 2nd July but my health was deteriorating at a fast pace. Now, I couldn't even get up and sit. I was always lying down and sleeping. No wish to eat, drink and sometimes to even live. My parents took me to a doctor who gave me some medicines and I was feeling well for a few days until I went to my hometown. When I reached my home in Lucknow, my hometown, I started having the same health issues again. Now, they were even worse. We went to a doctor again who prescribed some tests. After looking at the reports he said that I had Liver Cirrhosis along with a bacterial infection. He prescribed a 21 day rigorous medication course. I followed it religiously and presently, I have no such issues anymore. I was confused when the doctor said that I had liver cirrhosis because I had heard that those who drink a lot of alcohol often suffer from that but I had never even tasted a drop of it in my life. I told this to the doctor and he said that not eating much food or eating food bad in quality can also be the cause of liver cirrhosis. It’s true because my hostel mess food was really spicy and tasted horrendous. Even the drinking water was really bad. Thankfully, I have a water purifier and access to delicious and hygienic food through a tiffin service in my new apartment.
August:
For me, august slipped away into a moment in time. This month, I celebrated the festival called Raksha Bandhan all alone. It’s a Hindu festival of brothers and sisters in India. The sisters tie a rakhi (A thread with beads and other beautiful embellishments, kinda like a friendship bracelet) on their brothers’ wrists. The sisters pray for their brother’s well being and the brothers vow to always protect theirs sisters from any kind of danger. This was the first time when I tied the rakhis by myself. It was quite difficult. I FaceTimed my sisters because that was the closest thing to celebrate the festival together. For the rest of the month, I was waiting for the third semester to begin.
September:
This month started with the commencement of my new semester in college. In just a week, I became burdened with a ton of assignments and projects. The normal college life had begun from this month. On the 9th of September, my life changed for the better. I found out about Substack from
. I was listening to her’s and ’s podcast, ‘Evolution Of A Snake’ on YouTube where she told about her publication, . Being a fan of hers, I instantly downloaded the app and subscribed to her publication. Almost all of her posts were podcast episodes so I didn’t even know that one could write posts on this platform. This went on for a few days, but on 1st September, she posted a written post called The Act Of Remembering. I read the entire thing and thought, “Wow! I can write posts like this too!!” And then, on 9th of September, I started my first publication, 'Down In The Attic’. I wrote my first long post in the night. It’s called, Nostalgia Is A Mind’s Trick. At that time, I had no idea about anyone reading this. I just wrote it for myself and waited for people to come across it. And some definitely did. Now, I’m so thankful to the lovely people who always support me in my writing journey.October:
This month started with my birthday on 1st October. I wrote a special birthday post to remember the golden memories of my old birthdays. Here it is. My parents came to Bhopal, where I live for college, for 3 days to celebrate my birthday. We went to some museums and temples, cut the cake and then had dinner at a restaurant. I like celebrating my birthday without loud parties and big gatherings. For me, intimate celebrations with the family are the best way to celebrate these special occasions. This month was the month when I went to watch a movie all alone for the very first time. I went to watch ‘Jigra’ on 12th October and I loved it. It’s one of my favourite movies of all time. It’s now available on Netflix to watch. I even wrote a post about my favourite movies after watching this movie. At the end of the month, I went to Lucknow to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights. It’s a festival where we celebrate the victory of good over evil. To commemorate this, people burn a lot of firecrackers, and I hate it. I’m scared of them, got burned when I was small, can’t stand the loud noise they make, start coughing and have a headache with all the smoke and it’s just a waste of money and source of pollution after all. I act as the photographer when other family members burn them. That’s how I celebrate Diwali, of course along with delicious homemade festive food.
November:
This month began with a sad news. I was watching the US elections’ voting count and got saddened by the results. I feel bad for the people of America. I hope they endure these four years supporting each and everyone with extreme care, love and humility. I wrote some of my favourite essays, poems and short stories this month. I’m still proud of them.
December:
This month, in which I’m currently writing this post started on a somber note. I was struggling with assignments, a statistics exam and just a lot of mental pressure. I don’t know, sometimes I feel like this without any reason. Maybe, because I often find myself in an existential crisis while keeping myself mentally stable, balancing my personal and college life like an absolute pro (trust me, I am not). On 16th December, something bad happened. Someone stole my MacBook from my bedroom in the afternoon. I was in college at that time. When I came back in the evening, I looked in the bottommost section of my bedside table for the MacBook and was shocked to see nothing there. I immediately went to police and filed a complaint. I gave them the MAC address and everything required for them to trace it. Amidst all this, I had a suspicion on my neighbour. I live in an apartment and a boy lives just next to me. He didn't go to college that day. There was an opening near the ceiling of my hall which has been closed now by my landlord. I think the boy might have jumped into the hall and went inside the already unlocked bed room door (I only lock the main door, not the bedroom) and stole the MacBook. He was the only one who knew I had one because he had seen me using it whenever he would come to my house to fill his water bottles (he didn’t have a water purifier in his house). But anyway, I don’t have a solid proof against him so I can’t blame him. At last, it has been about two weeks and the police is still not able to find it. I have lost all hope now, so my parents kindly bought me a new one. I will forever be grateful to them. I’m someone who doesn’t like windows because I've been a Mac user since I was a child. So, getting a cheaper windows laptop would’ve made me feel less comfortable and confused while using it. Once again, thank you so much to my parents. They are the best parents anyone could ask for.
Now, I would like to mention some of my favourite posts I read and my favourite writers I met this year.
On 15 September, I had met Ritwik via Substack notes, in the replies. We instantly subscribed to each other and became regular readers of each other's publication. Being the like minded people we are, our friendship sparked almost instantly. He is a wonderful poet, essayist and storyteller. His poems are so wonderful, that it almost seems surreal. He is able to create impacts through his writings, which only a few are capable of. He has grown so much in such a limited time on Substack, and I am so proud of him. But, most of all, he is a wonderful friend and supporter. He has stood by me through thick and thin, being my biggest cheerleader for everything I do, be it inside or outside Substack. I can share my thoughts freely with him, and he knows how to uplift my mood. He has become an integral part of my life and I want to cherish this friendship for life! I wish him all the best for his future and may 2025 be the best year for him. Not only 2025, every year henceforth! Sending love and best wishes to him forever.
Thank you so much for writing this. It means a lot!
Please support her publications,
and . She’s a prodigy and I’m so proud of her. She’s also writing another novel. I can’t wait to read it someday and see her becoming a bestselling author. Seeing how talented she is, that’s a surety in the near future. Please wish her all the best.
So, this was my reflection on the year 2024. I’m so thankful to each and everyone who has supported and appreciated me every time. Trust me, I’ve never gotten this much love and support from anyone in real life. I’ll be taking a long break from Substack now because my end semester exams are starting soon. They’ll go on for a long time. I might post a poem here and there and read some posts occasionally but I don’t want to divert myself from studies. Once again, Thank you so much for understanding. I’ll come back very soon. Till then,
Farewell.
I'm really sorry for what happened to you this month, i felt so bad when I got to know bout it and I hope u take care of r stuff even more now sir. 🥲
And yeah every year feels like a teacher, doesn’t it? It throws challenges, gives us memories, and leaves us with lessons we didn’t know we needed. I hope this year taught you something meaningful too. Something that will make you stronger and happier as we move forward. 🥰
I’m so proud of you and how far you’ve come. And i feel your frustration with the stolen laptop its definitely one type of grief