THOUGHTS AT 35

So I have turned 35 three days ago. It's a really funny age, if not a little perplexing. You still have one foot on the shores of youthfullness while the need to check the speed of life gradually tickles your brain.

This is not to paint myself as a mature, grey-haired, slightly balding middle-aged man, struggling to cope with the new needs of life. But an effort from my part to look back at my personal and professional life wearing the glass of impartiality.

First let's take a peep at my personal life. All the while it has been a mix of good and bad, though I would like to put more weight on the former. I have been hugely privileged to acquire some wonderful friends along the way -- from my school and college days, during my stay in the hostel in New Delhi, yes they have come from all walks of life.

But my biggest gain has been finding a suitable life partner. I met her in the New Indian Express office in Bangalore, but it was not love at first sight. It blossomed between us some two years after our initial meeting, and I am really happy that I made the right choice. I believe having the right Ms Right has a huge role in the success of your personal and professional life.

I also have been remarkably lucky to have two of the most loving parents and really affectionate siblings, who have contributed immensly to my succes in all my ventures.

Now to my professional life. It has been a rather topsy-turvy trip as journalist over the last 12 years. The years have presented me the fortune of interacting with some nice guys, some wonderful colleagues and, of course, some cheapos as well.

As I said in one of my earlier blogs, I may not be clinging onto the broadsheet for long now as I can feel the need to do something different, face a different sort of challenge, surge in me. Hopefully, things should go as I hope in the next few months.

I have always felt my style of writing is more suited to interviews, features, news features and human element in sports. At times a broadsheet may not be the best place to do it, and may be it is a little too late for me to become straight-jacket writer. Here I should remember a name, without forgetting others who helped me along the way, for telling the importance of approaching my craft in a different way to keep myself fresh as a writer.

Ajay Shankar, my former colleague in NIE, Bangalore and now with a reputed website, has been a positive influence, pointing out the need to view sports, particularly cricket, through an unconventional eye and treating it like a new episode of a drama every day. Well, it is a hard to sell theory on a place, torned by the irresistable clash between new and old, like mine. Admittedly, I could not practice it all the time, keeping in mind the 'style' of my workplace, but the view has definitely broaden my horizons.

It is impossible to dwell upon all aspects in such a short article, but I have tried to give a peripheral and honest view of my professional and personal life. Catch up with you guys soon!