A year end summary - as usual

Summing up a year is an exercise I quite enjoy doing. Biggest highlight of the year was, of course, getting married. 😊 It's been an enjoyable journey and have to say, by all means, this has been a good year, both personally and professionally.

In terms of my interests, I certainly could have done more - be it writing or watching movies or reading. But no regrets as I kept myself engaged, nevertheless.

Watched 38 movies this year - down from 61 last year, but that's ok. The following were the movies that I enjoyed the most this year (in no particular order):

1. Bohemian Rhapsody

2. 96 (Tamil)

3. Vada Chennai (Tamil)

4. Padman (Hindi)

5. 2 Point 0 (Tamil)

I did miss out on a few good movies and I hope to catch them soon. Prime amongst them were Pariyerum Perumal (Tamil) and Mahanati (Telugu).

Reading has certainly taken a backseat this year. I sincerely hope to correct this in 2019. Let's see.

Fitness goals were reached in the first half of the year (cue Wedding), and all the weight lost was regained in the 2nd half of the year. 😜 Anyway, this is one area for me to focus on this year.

The year had considerably less travel compared to the previous 2 years. The most memorable travel was the trip to Mauritius, post our wedding. Hope to travel to more (new) places in the coming year. Let's see.

One thing I ask myself at the end of every year is whether I have improved myself as a person (in all aspects) over the previous year. If the answer is yes, then that's progress. Happy that I've progressed this year. Hoping for the same to continue next year too.

Here's hoping for 2019 with all the things stated above and more. Cheers! 😊

Wish you all a very happy new year! 😊

The Extremities - A bit of Geography

The below post is based on an update I posted in Facebook, a month ago.

A bit of Geography:

I came across this question recently: What is the furthest that you have been in your country in terms of latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates in all 4 directions?

Interesting question. After a wee bit of research using Google Maps, here's my answer:

North:

Northern-most point in India (within our control (LoC)) is Indira Col in Siachen Glacier - 35 deg 40 min N

Northern-most point accessible to civilians is Turtuk Village in Ladakh - 34 deg 51 min N

Northern-most point that I have been to - Nubra Valley in Ladakh - 34 deg 36 min N

South:

Southern-most point in India is Indira Point in Andaman & Nicobar Islands - 6 deg 47 min N

Southern-most point controlled by India if you consider our research stations in Antarctica is Maitri - 70 deg 32 min S

Another research station of ours in Antarctica is Dakshin Gangotri - 70 deg 12 min S

Southern-most point in mainland India and that I have been to is Kanyakumari - 8 deg 4 min N

West:

Western-most point in India is Guhar Moti village in Sir Creek (Narayan Sarovar district) in Gujarat - 68 deg 2 min E

Western-most point that I have been to is Ahmedabad - 72 deg 24 min E

East:

Eastern-most point in India is the town Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh - 97 deg 24 min E

Eastern-most point that I have been to is Kolkata - 88 deg E

When I expand the scope of this question to the whole world and not just India, I realized that the North and the East points remain the same for me. Western-most changes to Dubai (54 deg 56 min E) and the Southern-most changes to Mauritius (20 deg 30 min S).

Meanwhile, the highest point that I have been in (India or abroad) is Khardung La Top in Ladakh (5359 m high).

Fascinating, isn't it? I really love the fact that the Google Maps has started projecting the map in a globe form instead of Mercator projection.

On that note, I'll try to write about the cons of following the Mercator projection, sometime soon. Hopefully.

For now, let me part with cheers to Geography and to the awesome Geography teacher - Sujatha Ma'am, who taught us the subject in our school - Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, RS Puram, Coimbatore - and instilled a love for the subject in us. Cheers, ma'am, if you ever stumble upon this post.