Turning 23 (2019)

Out of focus sunset at Worli Seaface

Out of focus sunset at Worli Seaface

Last year and the year before that I wrote a note to myself on my birthday. Here’s some stuff on how it was being 22 and some things I want to do at 23.

Last year’s note was me talking about how it had been a slow year and how not much had happened. Being 22 was a whirlwind. I moved to Mumbai to study design at IDC, which has changed how I think about things a lot. I lived away from my family for the first time and said some really hard goodbyes, and spent a lot of time feeling sad and confused. But I made a bunch of new friends, and worked really hard, harder than I ever had before, and decided to just get shit done and try to be a better person myself.

Each year on my birthday I expect some sort of grand gestures from people I love, and it never quite happens the way I want it to and I feel miserable and make people miserable because they didn’t get it right. This year I decided to skip the drama and plan things out myself, and had a pretty nice weekend with friends and family.

Highlights of the year

  • Went on a road trip to Leh and Ladakh, and a college field trip to Daman
  • Making new friends at IDC - love you guys! (Watching @niharika.kapil constantly fail at simple things like opening a juice box has brought me joy many, many times)
  • The chairness of chairs
  • Chai and vada pao
  • Running around in circles (shoutout to IXDRC)
  • Got an internship at Microsoft Hyderabad and I’ll be there for 2 months in the summer

Things I want to do at 23

  • Travel - Take that cliché college Goa trip and go for Biennale
  • Live healthier (Run more, eat better, sleep enough (lol))
  • Write more (fix my website + blog)
  • Do fun things with code? Make a font? Idk

This was Gyan in 2018-19. Here’s to being 23!