Happy New Year MMXI

So yet another year draws to its close, in fact it's curtains for the first decade of the new millennium.

A year filled with scandals galore, a year that began with a massive earthquake wreaking havoc in Haiti, another in Chile that triggered a killer Tsunami, yet another in China, a year that saw a good part of the American coastline polluted by an oil spill, a year when state secrets and diplomatic cables were leaked to the public, a year that found the Korean Peninsula ever closer to the brink of war.

Of course all these mishaps were balanced by good too - a new tallest structure called the Burj Khalifa was opened, India hosted the Commonwealth games way better than anyone thought it could, the first synthetic living cell was made, the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic was declared over, researchers trapped antimatter at CERN for the first time in human history and much much more.

On the personal front, I've seen a few more foreign lands, done a few more projects and published an IEEE paper, delighted in the company of my friends more than ever before and grown wiser, if in small increments, over the course of the year. The Blog has picked up steam too, with over 1500 page visits per month consistently over the past half year at least (since I began tracking it), breaching 10000 unique page visits in total in the first half of 2010 and a new high of 2500+ visits this month of December. I've won a *few* ;-) contests and giveaways online putting my poetry writing, prose and puzzle-solving skills to the test and earned a bit writing articles for a few websites too. College has been going great and this year will determine pretty much where my life's headed. A lot hangs in the balance.

If the supposedly prescient Mayans are to be believed, we only have 2 years left before the world ends. Put that time to good use lest some not-so-extinct Mayan truly gets his opportunity to say "I told you so!" :P (though I scarcely think that'll happen). Enjoy life, but spare a modicum of thought and a helping hand to those who're less fortunate. Sure, go out and party tonight, but exercise enough restraint to avoid being too wasted to drive yourself home in the wee hours of 1-1-11.

So here's wishing you a Happy New Year! A year filled with joy, friendship and love.... A year where you make a meaningful contribution to your family and the world... A year filled with achievement. For it is in the act of achieving that any human being gives meaning to his or her life. Why lead an insipid existence content with the daguerreotype of yesteryears? Instead discard the prosaic, whet your intellect and relish in your efforts to bring light to tenebrous depths. For that is what sets you apart from an unthinking animal.

Heartiest wishes for an excellent and worry-free 2011 !