Last few days of 2-getherness

Early days of 2-getherness(2013)	End days of 2-getherness(2020)

First of all, wishing you all a Happy New Year. 2020 has been a very puzzling year for all of us. My heart goes out to anyone who has been through a tough time during the last few months. I hope 2021 is different for all of us. Happier and pandemic free.

Oddly enough, 2020 has been pretty good to me. Like everyone else it has been hugely puzzling but I can actually go ahead and say that this has been a great year.

2020, being a great year might seem like a highly unpopular opinion but I will explain.

In 2020:

• I did my first winter trek.
• Towards the start of the year I was able to quit my soul-sucking job and join a new one where I am considerably happier.
• Sometime in May I came to know that I was going to be a father.
• A slight push from my manager helped me start my public speaking journey.
• Last but not least, I was finally able to kill the procrastination demons and start my blog.

But what makes this year really special was that I was able to spend a lot of time with my wife. Although both me and Sagnika don’t have to go to office in the next few months, it will no longer be just the 2 of us as we are expecting a child this month. Hence, the title.

Both I and Sagnika are thrilled at the thought of becoming parents, but it does have its downsides. The biggest one being the lack of freedom. All decisions henceforth will have to be with the baby’s best interest in mind which will reduce flexibility significantly. But before that happens let us do a quick recap of how we went from being strangers to expecting parents.

Now that I think about it, these last few years after I met Sagnika have been a whirlwind of events. I met Sagnika during the last days of my masters at Kalyani. This was in December of 2012. We both fell rose in love quickly as both of our courses would end in 3 months and then I would move to Bangalore for my first job.

Then after a difficult long-distance relationship of 3 years, we got married in December of 2015.

In the first six months of our marriage, it became absolutely clear that this was a mistake and it was only a matter of time until we separated.

We used to fight a lot during the first 2 years. One of the things that kept us going was our love for food.

Fatty Bao	Malpoa @ Moira
Bhojohori Manna	Frozen Drink @ Toit

Oh, and did I mention the absurd amounts of chocolate we had during that time.

We also traveled a bit during this time. Mostly unplanned weekend trips. Since I am infamous for unnecessarily long rants, I will let the pictures do the talking.

Second time @ Coonoor	Honeymoon @ Ooty

Promenade Beach Pondicherry	Auroville

Pondicherry

B R Hills

Kudle Beach @ Gokarna	Om Beach @ Gokarna

Near Dolphin’s Nose @ Kodaikanal	Vattakanal Falls @ Kodaikanal

MG Park @ Chikmangalur	Siri Cafe @ Chikmangalur

We have also been to Yercaud, Munnar, Waynad, Mysore, Nandi Hills but I could not find good pictures for them.

One very significant thing that started happening during this time was that our love of food was not only making us very happy but also very fat.

So we decided to do something about it. I mean the fat, not the happiness. We decided to go for a trek.

Since trekking and being fat do not go together our pictures changed to things like this.

Soup for Dinner	Butter Fruit Juice and Tofu Salad
Kale Juice(Whatever the reason is, DO NOT TRY THIS @ home; Side effects may include depression )	Running

Of all the things the preparation for trekking did to us, the fat reduction was the most significant.

Sagnika during our eating phase and after trekking (Able to notice the subtle difference?)

Then of course we went for the treks.

First the Dayara Bugyal Trek.

Campsite	Dayara Top

And then the Brahmatal Trek.

Telandi Campsite	Jhandi Top

We did the Brahmatal trek in January 2020 and then before we could plan anything else the pandemic started and we got pregnant and hence the countdown to our last days of 2-getherness started.

Ending Thoughts

Contrary to our understanding, we truly fell in love and were at ease with each other long after we got married. We had thought that in our case it was love that lead to marriage while actually, it was marriage that had lead to true love.

The pictures below illustrates the reduction in awkwardness and increase of color in our relationship.

Dodabetta Peak 2015	Dodabetta Peak 2019

To those who are newly married and are going through a tough time in their relationship, I would like to say hold on a little longer, try a little harder. Letting go is very easy and can be done at any time but building a relationship and then a family needs a lot of perseverance. However dark it may feel right now it will eventually be worth it.

With the start of this month, the clock has started ticking for the arrival of our child and soon there will be 3 of us.

Sagnika drew a picture to remind us of times when it was just the 2 of us.

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