2018 - Thattathin Marayathu to '96 and an Apple Watch

The title of this post kind of sums up my 2018. I admit that I have been quite irregular updating my blog for the past few years. Having said that, I haven't completely abandoned it. At least not yet. I guess that would be difficult. I have too many memories attached to this blog which I don't want to get rid of right away. Okay, I understand that blogging about anything non-tech or non-food is passe these days but I guess I'm old-fashioned that way. While I would love to vlog one day, I haven't decided when that day's gonna come.

Coming to this post, as I mentioned, the title kind of sums up my 2018. Watching several regional movies and taking the fitness plunge has been the hallmark of 2018 for me. The year started off well and all was going good when things suddenly took a downward spiral and life was hurled into a new personal low in July. A freak accident jolted the family in the second half of the year and things continued that way into early October. Thankfully, the situation kind of evened out as the year progressed into November. Whilst I won't go into the details of the low phase, all I can say is that sometimes discovering that inner strength at a painfully difficult time can rebuild you into a stronger individual. At least after experiencing it first hand, I can vouch for that statement. 

So, what did I do while life was taking the roller coaster trip? I struck off movies that were on my movies-to-watch (MTW) list and while doing so I also found time to join a gym. Before getting into the details, let me explain some things. 

While I am a regular movie buff, I am an infrequent viewer. That might sound contradictory but that's exactly how it is. My annual quota has never exceeded more than six movies for the past 10 years. And that too in a good year. And this includes movies from all languages. And yes, I haven't watched a single Avenger movie after Thor. Still I will insist that I do love movies. Its like saying I love sweets but I do them in moderation if you know what I mean. Due to my moderation, I have a to-watch list that keeps growing and growing and far exceeds my self-imposed quota. This year happened to be different though. I bought a subscription to watch movies at home and also had some free time to watch them. So I started off at the beginning of the list. Thattathin Marayathu (TM). This Malayalam movie had been languishing at the top of my (MTW) list since 2013 after a person who was once close to me recommended it. And I am glad that I struck it off the list first. While I am not into romance, I do love my comedys. So I don't mind watching romcoms or tragicomedies. Thattathin Marayathu was a good start that way. It rekindled my slacking interest in South Indian and Hindi movies. So I decided to go down the list one by one. What followed were movies like Vikram Vedha, Newton, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, Premam, Kshanam, Tholi Prema, Rangasthalam, Nibunan, Geetha Govindam and so on. The final one on the list that brought me up to speed was '96. Yes, that very beautiful movie (with no storyline if I dare say so) which made me take a U-turn (another movie that I watched this year) on life. I must admit '96 and Rangasthalam were two movies that I would love to watch again just because, well, I want to. I am not surprised that '96 received rave reviews all throughout. I still am haunted by that lovely scene where Janu finally sings the "Yamuna nadhi" song for Ramachandran, sorry, K. Ramachandran. Drumroll please. With that I averaged around 2 movies a month this year. That in itself is a record for me since we left Patna during my childhood days.

Coming to fitness, I am neither a fitness buff nor am I remotely interested in looking fit. I just loathe physical activity. I don't believe that a vegetarian like me can bulk up like an MCU (that's Marvel Comic Universe to the uninitiated) superhero or have any fitness goals that can be attainable. However, all this changed when I was smitten by the Apple Watch after I saw its reviews online late last year. And I was sold when my very tech-savvy friend, let's call him TFS, bought one and never stopped singing praises about it. So when I finally could afford one in April, I promptly bought one. That was the beginning. Of the change. In the initial days, I just used it for checking time, changing dial faces every hour and trying to make Siri understand my English. Then I discovered the rings. The Activity Rings to be exact. Since I have an OCD for all things symmetrical, I could not stand the fact that the activity rings were not closing at the end of every day due to my inactivity. Incomplete rings made me restless and sleepless. So, I decided to close them. After my sister's not-so-gentle push, I  joined a gym. Just to close the rings. It was like entering a new universe through a portal I had discovered under my bed. This was the universe of resistance training, running, watching people pushing harder after a hard day's work. What started of as a toning and circles' closing exercise turned out to be a good stress buster. Here I will have to thank the personal trainer who helped me with this journey for the past 6 months. For the first time in a long time, I am seeing tangible results of hard work paying off. I might not be a MCU superhero, but I can now safely say that I am fitter than before. Bottomline, I feel good. The regimen also helped me cope through the tough personal months from July to October. And now I frequently (if not regularly) close the Activity Rings. Apple Watch, best gadget I ever bought. 

In summary, 2018 will be a year I will remember for various reasons. But I would mainly remember it for rediscovering my love for movies and discovering the fact that fitness, like all those sportspersons say, is a good thing indeed.