2018. Year in Review.

Since the last few years, in the month of January, I look back at the previous year and say to myself -“Wow, that was an incredible year!” 2018 also stands in that list. So many things happened in one year that I keep thinking “How can so many things happen in a year?” I picked few of the highlights from 2018 to share with you all.

Marriage – Main badhiya tu bhi badhiya!!

To start with, the biggest event in the year hands-down is my marriage. As people call it, a permanent change. And I’m glad it was a positive change. The feeling that someone is always there for you is special. Be it an idea, some story, happy moments, disappointments, Eureka moments… There is always someone you can talk to. Neha is an amazing partner that way. When I’m sad, she becomes this little kid to lighten up my mood… When I’m busy and need to focus, she turns into a mature person and gives me space… And when I’m confused, she reasons out the options and helps me choose the right direction. It is always good to be in a happy relationship. And I’m lucky! (Well, she is lucky too 😉 )

Value of Time!

For the first time in so many years, I realized the importance of time and efficiency. I mean fully realized! I got married – all good – but that also meant a trade off with the available time to achieve personal targets. Over the last one year, I kept fiddling with my routines, trying new ways to accomplish things, saving time wherever possible. I had to prioritize things at every step. Should I attend that get together? Is that meeting really important? Should I travel this weekend? And so on. This entire exercise has only made me a better person. More efficient, more focused and never better.

Work Life – Cisco Love.

This place is endless opportunities. The only limiting factor can be your “will” to do things (and pay). The kind of people, opportunities and knowledge at disposal is just amazing. In 2018, I have had the opportunity to work on some major customer escalations and improve their experience with our products and services. Also, after having spent 6 years in the data center domain,  I just moved into the space of security. The trends in network security have been amazing and I am super excited to be a part of this new team. Cisco also provided me with the opportunity to train new hires in networking. This really helped me grow as a mentor and gave me a great feeling of helping these new people, early in their career. All of this, plus great fun. Look at the picture and you know how crazy we can get at office! I’m looking forward to a great 2019 with Cisco and I’m confident the company will not disappoint me.

Writing – The more, the merrier!

This is one of the things that I started in 2011 but never consistent. Started with my WordPress blog back then, and moved to a blog co-authored with my friend Kunjan and eventually in 2017, launched manojpapisetty.in. After marriage, the site is now nehamanoj.com. 2018 also stands as my most successful writing year. More than 3000 visitors across the world reading a wide variety of articles is just pure joy. I know the numbers are tiny, but it’s the best so far and I’m confident it will only improve. As I commit more time to writing, my articulation skill has improved multi-fold. This one skill has contributed significantly to my 2018 and I wish to continue the same in this new year. I have also had the opportunity to pen a foreword on We, The People’s latest bi-annual report. Such an honor to do that. Honestly.

Physical Activity – Stay hungry, Stay fit 😉

Ever since my childhood, people challenged me at every stage of my life that I will grow fat. They said after school, then pakka in college, and that moved to pakka pakka while working. And finally everyone is looking forward to me being fat after marriage. I am hellbent on denying them of this even now. I took up conscious physical activity, and I plan to make it my religion in the next 12-24 months.

I played a lot of badminton in 2018. Thanks to the enthusiastic team mates at work! We would book our private courts just outside Cisco and play for a couple of hours every day. This really helped stay fit and stay relaxed as well. I did jog once in a while but hope to make it more consistent in 2019.

Things to look forward to in 2019…

• Neha will shift to Bangalore finally! Yeay! This is something I have been looking forward to for quite some time now.
• Work at Cisco – New domain, new team. Lot of excitement.
• Internet of Things. (More on this later!)