2022 (II): A Half-Year of Activity
After a first half of utter unemployment and leisure, the second half turned the year on its head, to an extent that 2022 ended on a frenetic note of busyness. And the terrific point for me is that the good stuff happened because I got off my behind, took initiative and proactively started something small somewhere.
Sport: My spouse LP and I joined the roster of ‘Puyal’, a local ultimate frisbee club. One of our couple goals had been to play ultimate together. While she is one of the pioneering players in the country, it is a brand new sport for me. Under the guidance of a coach (one of the best players in the country), we began regular training sessions twice a week on Bessie Beach. This then led to outstation tournaments in Auroville and Coimbatore.
Playing ultimate for Puyal was helpful in a few ways. It injected a sense of routine through training blocks. It kept up my regular physical activity, which I knew from my therapy sessions was important for my mental health. I had also never represented a club before in any sport, so that was a wholly new experience for me.
Acting: I managed to find my way back into performing on stage. After a pandemic-induced hiatus since 2020, I featured in two separate productions.
The first was the ten-minute Short+Sweet Theatre Festival through Nov, where I wrote and performed ‘COVID: What It Is’. Directed by LP, it was also our first creative collab (another of our couple goals) and it was a success. We won Play of the Day and Script of the Week, and were a Jury Choice to proceed to the Finals, where we received a lot of audience love and appreciation. Watch the play here.
The second was a full-length play called ‘Edgar & Annabel’, written by British playwright Sam Holcroft and directed by Chennai-based writer-director Sunanda Raghunathan. LP and I both play central roles, marking our first time acting together on stage. The premiere was held on Dec 3 to a full house and tremendous audience feedback. With shows planned through 2023 (every alternate Friday at Medai in Alwarpet, Broadway-style), this will be one of my continuing engagements of the coming year.
Travel: For our anniversary, we headed to the Maldives (shout out to PickYourTrails for the fab vacation). And after years of waiting and planning and visa renewals, we finally made our way to see family and friends and Christmas in the US. We were seeing many of these people after many years, including the seniors of our family. We crisscrossed California and New York and took in the festive spirit and decorations. Every person we have met has showered us with large amounts of love and generosity and kindness. We are ending 2022 wrapped in a warm family embrace.
Injuries: The spate of glass breakages that occurred in the first half continued in the second but they all happened on my body — cut by a shower of glass when a shelf collapsed, a sprained back, tendonitis in my knee from an injury during training, a hairline crack in my shoulder from a fall during a tournament. Regular sport has increased the demands on my body and I am yet to sustainably manage it.
LP’s 2022: My spouse had a second half filled with plaudits for her screen work. The highest was the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Vasanth Sai’s ‘Sivaranjaniyum Innum Sila Pengalum’. She received her medal and citation from the President of India at a function in New Delhi. She also won Best Supporting Actress at SIIMA for her work in Mari Selvaraj’s ‘Karnan’.
I have ended my previous year-end posts with thoughts and hopes and fears for the coming year, including putting down a list of things I’d like to accomplish. I feel no such compulsion this year. I’m sitting in the present moment and I feel settled here and now. I’m happy and content and sleeping well. My health is well and I’m in good physical condition. I’m reading more and social media-ing less. Every day is open with possibilities and opportunities for discovery. Life is good. And that is enough.
Read my previous annual musings below.
2017: Sabbatickle
2018: My Best Year Yet
2019: The Greatest Hits of My Greatest Year Yet
2020: A Year of Bigness
2021: A Year of Huge Names
2022 (I): A Half-Year of Unemployment/Leisure
