Happy New Year to all of you – a year that passed without any complaints, except for the last day of the year 05. The temperature in Melbourne was 42 C, the hottest New Year’s eve in the last 120 years or so. Naturally, I was not able to go to this year New Year fireworks display at Southbank as last year. Who can stand a crowd of 450,000 and the sweltering heat ?
Couple of wishes for the New Year, make a more determined effort for my photographic exploits, more writing and make a concerted effort at reading non fiction books, even though, I am still mesmerised by The Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and also have a more productive savings plan.
Come February, it will be three years since I landed in Australia. I have made good progress establishing myself since landing here starting from having more or less no money during my student days, going hungry most nights because of coming late and so on. One incident I remember vividly – I was feeling very hot one night and there are no fans in the houses here and my apartment was not centrally air conditioned. The next day I set off to the nearest Big W to purchase a pedestal fan to cool the heat, only to find it costed $26 to buy one. I had exactly $15 to spend the next 10 days with. I eventually bought one after waiting for nearly three months and had to do a special savings plan to purchase that one. The RingGrip fan I bought still cools me during these hot summer nights and every now and then I remember that litte story of the fan.
From that level of financial insecurity, I am now in a position to do something, able to spend money without being adversely affected by the expenditure at the end of the month, I only thank my parents and GOD and my well wishers for that. Their prayers and thoughts were most helpful in me achieving this position.
One sad news though, my uncle had to get his toe amputated because of non healing wound and he being a diabetic. I feel sorry for him.
