I watched Odyssey at the theatres last night and it put me in somewhat of a sombre mood. It didn’t last long, it was a late night show and I fell asleep immediately after hitting the bed. But it did leave me thinking, and it’s almost August of 2026, which is very late to be writing about 2025.

I’ve just done this once before, so it’s not really a ritual. My friend Chadhaji, just a few weeks ago, said he’d be late to a party since he didn’t want to miss his gym streak. I asked him when the streak began. Yesterday, he said. Sounded funny. But it will certainly feel odd to write a year in review for 2026 if I have one for 2024 but not for 2025. So this is me starting that “streak.”

2025 was a great year. Not just in hindsight, but I was happy! Writing it out now, I notice how much of it was second visits. Places I’d already been, or passed through, or only seen from the outside, and finally got to see properly.

January started in Gujarat. I was just back from Delhi the previous December after Archita and Manas’ wedding, and headed out again with mom’s side of my family. These trips are usually a mix of temples and relaxation. Dwarka and Somnath with Gir it was. Saw my grandad cycle, spotted some lionesses with cubs. The rest of January passed with something every week, be it a picnic in Cubbon or a weekend getaway to Nandi Hills with work friends and colleagues.

February and March were Bangalore being ordinary, which I liked. Work was going well. I won two internal awards, shopped for some houseplants, attended some events. Then I spray painted one of my Ikea lamps red, which made the living room look like a murder scene for a day. Enjoyed a bagel breakfast too. April saw me back in Mumbai for a brief moment.

May was the big trip I’d wanted to go on for a year. My friend Anuj and I headed to Japan, right after Golden Week. We’d originally wanted to celebrate both our birthdays there (10 days apart) but only mine worked out with the dates. Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, back to Tokyo with a day trip to Kamakura was our itinerary. The first few days were a bit tense, especially for Anuj, with what was going on back in India and in his hometown of Jammu. After that we enjoyed every minute of every day. Everything good that you have seen or heard about Japan, it’s better. What a country. We went to Expo 2025, my birthday was at Universal Studios (Anuj took half a day to realise that it was my birthday, classic him). I absolutely loved Kyoto, and we should have planned a longer stay there. Words won’t do the rest of it justice, so here is the video instead. We both left saying that this was just our first visit.

Then Bangalore, and the turn.

A dream came true. I’m not going to say which one here. What I can say is what it changed, which is most things. How I live in the present, and my plans, or lack of them, for the future. I was tense and overjoyed.

At the start of June I made another trip, to Poland again. The first time, in 2020, some visa issues didn’t allow me to spend time there and it ended up being almost a transit stop on my way to Slovakia. This time I was in Warsaw for a client workshop. Beautiful old town, I walked it all on my first day. It was a lot of fun meeting people I’d been speaking to on calls for a year. The return trip was a bit of a detour via Mumbai, as the Middle East flared up just as I was taking off from Poland. Back in Bangalore, the turn the year had taken was what I enjoyed for the rest of the month and the next.

In July, a new job started. This time at a startup that presented an opportunity I did not know existed. I guess all those hours spent on 𝕏 were finally paying off. Headed to Hyderabad for the second time this year, after the Schengen visa run, this time for meeting a part of the India team and getting onboarded.

August was non-eventful, compared to the last few months. I was finding a rhythm.

September was a laidback weekend getaway to Mysore, and this time I got to explore a bit. The drive down from Bangalore is a beautiful one and honestly half the reason to go. The other half was SAPA, a sourdough bakery. Second good bread of the year, if you're keeping count.

October was back in Mumbai for Diwali. I just enjoy being at home for the festive season. November was house parties, 3D printing and another nice break of a month.

December was another trip to Delhi, almost the same dates as the trip this post started with, but this time just for exploring the city. It was a really nice week! From there I headed to Kochi for a few days. I’d been three times before but never with this lot. James (friend from CMU, now in NYC) was in India to attend a wedding, Raghvi (friend from CMU, now in SF) was stuck in Delhi due to her H1B visa issues. So the two of them, plus Tanvi (another friend from CMU, now in Chennai), and Anne (yet another friend from CMU, now in Bangalore), and I planned this trip to be able to spend time together while attending the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. New Years was spent in Bangalore with friends where we hosted them for a mulled wine and pizzas night.

A good end to a great year! Reading it back, most of it was going somewhere I’d already been. I don’t mind that at all.