We don’t remember days, we remember moments !

We don’t remember days, we remember moments – Pavese, Cesare ( 1908-1950), Italian, Poet, Critic, Novelist, and Translator

2011 had many such moments. Beginning of the year, I commented upon the start of the new decade bringing new promises along with it. Even though, in general, 2011 was a very tough year, especially for people connected with the finance world, I still hold on to my earlier comment.

Each year when we look back and evaluate, we end up looking at our failures, at things that turned out contrary to our expectations or liking. And what that inferno of thought does, is further depresses us, building a kind of negative spiral, which engulfs and ends up strangulating us. Unless one makes a conscious attempt to stay positive, it’s very difficult to remain so given the surrounding ecosystem is so much volatile and uncertain. The coming decade will be a decade with ‘new normal’ - the earlier extreme / tail positions becoming the norm of the day.

So let me sit back, relax and look at the moments which buoyed me up, experiences that brought smile and satisfaction - those beautiful moments. The beauty is that when you start thinking you will suddenly discover many. That’s true with me as well. Starting with elevation at the beginning of the year, opportunity to learn a new line of business ( also helped me forge new relationships and build networks across the globe), Dad’s graceful retirement (July 2011 after 25 years of glittering service with Indian Diamond Institute taking both the industry and IDI to newer heights), a family vacation to US (something I had been dreaming for years), bought a house and more importantly staying in it, Aadi obtained his golf handicap, Nav improved her tennis skills, Anu’s untiring dedication to make it happen for kids – to count a few ! I urge each of you to do the same.

At a national level, countrymen got together to chop off the ugly head of corruption. Whether the movement was successful or not, it did bring out the issue of corruption in the forefront. It did give the confidence that masses who have stayed agnostic so far to the pressing issues can come together for a worthy cause. I personally do not subscribe to certain proposals of Team Anna or believe that a bill can cure all the ills, but to me, the whole run-up was a beautiful moment that further strengthened our democratic setup.

Internationally while the US and Europe tripped, Arab spring brought out the thirst for democracy.

2012 – the world is not going to end, as Mayans predict. That prediction is only good for the moviemakers. For the rest, it will bring new possibilities. The context is changing so fast, that we need to continually retool ourselves at a faster pace and shorter intervals. And if we keep doing that, we will be in a position of advantage to exploit the opportunities it will throw. Staying 'agile' and 'collaborating' will be the key to staying successful and happy.

One will need to learn to enjoy not only the 'destination' but also the 'journey'. The journey will be full of those ‘moments’.

We all have our time machines. Some take us back and they are called memories. Some take us forward, they are called dreams – Jeremy Iron, British Actor

Let’s take our time machine forward ( or maybe fast-forward) and dream. And work towards translating those dreams. Welcome, 2012!