2009! What a year its been!

It’s been a long time, since I have posted anything here. So without getting into why I didn't write soon, let’s get started. :)

Its 2:45 AM, 5th Dec, 2009 and I am sitting at work, in my cubicle, eating a cup cake right now. I am writing this at office as my laptop is broken, and the display is not working.

It’s 5th Dec, and it’s the day when I came into this world. It’s my birthday today, and I have mixed feelings as I am writing this. I would like to reminisce on the good and bad times which happened in 2009. What a year it’s been!

A lot of things happened, which I never thought would happen and changed my life for good. I still remember the month of March when I wrote my first ever rap song. It was just a verse with 7-8 random lines, but I was so excited about it and I was singing it all the time. It was the month of April when I got a call from Bikram for the auditions of India’s Got Talent. I cannot forget that afternoon when I received that call, and I was high on excitement. It was not the show that I was excited about, it was the opportunity to take my creativity to the world. I was high, so high!

I have many little dreams in my life, and it’s like a list that I have of it. I want to make all of them happen, before I die and go to the other world. It’s not that I want all of them to happen at once, I know everything happens at the right time. The list has items like - travelling the world, releasing an album, making a lot of money, blowing up Vegas, making my mum proud ... One of the items on that dream list of mine, was to come on TV, and guess what, it happened! I was on national TV two times this year, singing my own written songs. It was my own and I was not mocking somebody else's creativity. I will always remember the days - 14th July to 29th July, 2009 when I was living the life which I always wanted to live, sitting in a fancy hotel, sipping beer, dil di awaaz instrumental playing in the back, looking out of the window of my room, watching Mumbai, and thinking "this is LIFE"!

I know my mom was happy to see her son on TV and was excited to answer people who would keep asking her - "Mrs Cheema, was that your son on TV the other day, singing Chal Jhoothee?" I guess for a moment in my life, I truly made my mum proud and I could always feel it when she would call me, and say "Son, many people are asking about you. I am proud to have a son like you." I really wish my dad was there to see me on screen, as he was very fond of music. We used to go for a drive together every evening when I was a kid. He would put on an old tape of Mohd. Rafi and would sing. I use to love the chorus part and I used to sing with my dad.

I met a lot of people on Facebook and Orkut, after the show happened. I made a lot of friends, and some of them are my close buddies now. We are on phone all the time, talking about all kinds of silly fun stuff. I am happy to have these people in my life, and would pray that these friendships last long. I am sure Bikram would agree with me. Thanks to all you fans and friends for making us feel so special and loved. I can never express my thanks to you in words. Cheers to all mah people!

The next good thing which happened this year was that I got a promotion at work. It was a much awaited hike I received and I was happy to see my salary slip showing different figures than what it was, from the past two years. It’s always good to see your account having more money on the 1st, so you can buy more liquor on Friday's and shop for all kinds of fancy stuff, every weekend. I was happy to get my new business cards printed with "Senior Software
Engineer" written on it. Now, I was feeling the corporate industry the way I would like to.

It was in October, my cousin sister got married. I applied for leave, but my boss approved only for seven days. So that was one week of home cooked food, going out with old college mates, and of course, the big Punjabi wedding. My sister had asked me to sing Chal Jhoothee at her sangeet. I was kind of shy to perform, as I thought all the aunties and uncles will think - "Who is this boy, and is he the bride's cousin? What kind of song is this?" Lot of questions in my mind, and I tried to back out. But, it was hard to run away from my cousin sister, and I remember she was pulling me to get on stage and sing, while the cameraman hired for the wedding was busy taking my shots, rather than filming other guests. I finally got on stage and sang the song, with my cousins on my side singing the chorus part. It was fun. One aunty even started playing the dholki as I sang, and I was getting desi vibes thinking - “Man, we can do a desi remix of the song and we can ask this aunty to play the dholki". After that, it was Dil Di Awaaz, and all the guests started clapping with the beat. Some of aunties had weird expressions on their faces, as if I was saying something in greek. My mom was looking at me with a smile but looked a little shocked and confused, as she was watching me doing something like this for the first time, live. I was all red when I came down from the stage, with every one praising my song writing abilities, and my cousin saying - "See, it was not that bad!”

This year would always be a memorable one for me, as it was different than the others in many ways. Many things happened, many people came in my life, I travelled a lot and saw the airport a lot this year, became popular in my city and at my workplace, got a career progression. It was a year of good learning, and I had a lot of experiences. I would like to see more of such years in future, only better.

To my family -
Mom, I would like to thank you for making me what I am today. With dad not around, we had our share of tough times and I know it was not easy for you all these years, working and raising a child. We were blessed and made our way through the bad phase, and I know it’s going to be sunny and bright on the way ahead. You were the only support I had and I always looked up to you. Thanks for raising me in the way you did, I owe everything to you mom. I hope I make you proud and keep a smile on your face forever.

Dad, I really miss you today as I have so much to share with you but you are sitting so far away. I know you are there with me, in my heart till my last breath. I wish you were here to see me grow, see me going to college, getting a job, living my dream of music. I wish you were there and I could tell you when I had my first crush, so that we can have that guy talk with you telling me what to do. I wish you could hit me, when for the first time I came home all drunk, because mom was too sweet and she only gave me a hard look and cursed. I wish you were there to tell me all the things I needed to know growing up, going through that transition of a boy to a man. I wish you were there...

It’s going to be morning soon now, and I have to run and catch my cab. I end this post with many mixed emotions and deep thoughts running through my mind.

Thank you GOD for all what you have blessed me with, and I hope to see you by my side for the many years to come.

Well, A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I am happy to have lived 2009 the way I did.

2010, here I come...