This week was a version of Hell week for GG because she has two projects due on the same day and one of them which was a coding project had some issues which her group just could not resolve. Just when it seemed that they had to redo the whole thing within one day, they managed to reach out to their teacher who helped them, albeit with some reduction in their final marks and they managed to submit it in time. The second project has issues because of some people in the group, one of whom was out the whole day on submission day which pissed off the rest of the group. GG is so mad at this person that she has decided that moving forward, she will not be in the same group as this person if she can help it.

BB on the other hand had a usual week, though I can see him studying more this semester compared to the previous one. He is confident of scoring much better this semester, but I don’t want to push my hopes too high, but I did have a dream one day of a certain semester GPA, so I am optimistic cautious of perhaps a chance this dream does come true. I did dream of their O level scores and BB’s score was bang on, but I was off by one point for GG though.

This week I saw a news report which brought a smile on my face. The world has hit a milestone this week in the sense that more people have been vaccinated than have been infected world over. A total of 119 million vaccine doses have been administered till date while the number of infections has reached about 106 million now. Of the active cases more than 99% have mild conditions and less than 0.5% of patiebts are in a critical condition. The USA has more than 27 million cases till date and India has 10 million cases till date. But if you look at total cases per 1 million of population, India drops to the 119th position at 7791 cases per 1 million of population while the US is at number is at number 7 with 82,511 cases per 1 million of population.

The Chinese diaspora will be celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year next week and to all those who celebrate this festival, Xin Nian Quai Le and a Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family. I remember the last year when the cases hit Singapore just after CNY and we are here one year later with the end still looking quite far away!

Here’s today’s positive thought. It’s one I should also practice myself because at heart, I seem to attract negative thoughts so I am going to aim this week to only think positive thoughts.

I can’t believe that it’s the end of January! Even though I logically know that it’s the elasticity of time at work, it just feels like yesterday we started 2021 and tomorrow we will tear off the page of the calendar that is January.

To start, here’s today’s positivity quote:

I have been more or less consistent with my resolutions for the year. I figured that if I stayed on the course for one month, it would mean the resolutions have become some sort of a habit and will be easily kept for the rest of the year. As a back story, I used to slack on some of these items (which I already did in previous years), especially during weekends, but this time I have been quite diligent in following through each day, including weekends. I do have hopes for this year. I am also keeping a very strict eye on my blood sugar levels and have an ideal number to reach by the end of the year, but this is something that will take time, so wish me luck there.

I’m really proud of keeping up my target steps for the month every single day of the month (and I will walk today too to finish the month on a high) and so yesterday I thought I should track how much further I have walked this year. The driving distance between Singapore and Mumbai according to Google maps is 6,747 km and though I know I won’t to that distance in a year, I thought I should track where I will be if I do this virtually. So this month, I have walked enough to cross the border into Malaysia from my home and then walk across the state of Johor and reached the state of Malacca! I

Last year, and in January, I was not able to read as much as I wished, though I am still on track for my reading goals for the year. I am looking forward to reading more in February, especially non-fiction since that is something I want to read more this year. Let’s see how this pans out. Yesterday I attended some wonderful Zoom lectures organised by the Singapore National Library Board about reading and my key takeaway from one of the lectures was today because of so much digital distractions, we are not reading deeply and only skimming. This really struck hard because I am currently really struggling with reading. So I am going to really force myself to sit with a physical book each day and read with concentration for at least 20-30 minutes each day. This is such a far cry from a decade or two back when I could sit with a book and binge read for a couple of hours at the very minimum.

If you notice, I haven’t yet spoken about COVID. The world had its one hundred millionth case this week and we are at 102 million cases with the US at 26 million cases, India at 10.7 million cases and Brazil at 9.11 cases. Earlier in the week, we were told that its very possible that the panademic will continue for the next three to four years and masking, safe distancing and good hygiene habits will be a norm rather than something we are expected to do.

So stay safe, stay masked and be careful!

Another week and this week brought hope to much of the world with the inauguration of the 46^th American President and the first vice president who is not a woman, but also someone who is a minority, being of Indian and black parentage. Let’s hope this new president who is the de-facto leader of the free world is someone the world looks up to, though early signs are very positive.

As for us, last weekend was super hectic with a wedding in the extended family with multiple functions and it was a nice chance to catch up with family members whom we had not seen in a while and also wear our gorgeous Indian clothes which, because of being home for pretty much most of 2020 was stuck in the cupboards.

Singapore is seeing an upsurge of locally transmitted cases and with the Chinese New Year coming up soon, more restrictions have been placed on visiting relatives. The news world over is also not very good with the total number of cases in the spitting distance of 100 million, with the current cases standing at over 98 million with two million people dead. The USA has 25 million cases till date while India has over 10 million cases and Brazil at number three with nearly 9 million cases.

The children are at the end of their second semester of school and have started worrying about university admissions. BB screwed up his first semester and needs to really get his act together if he wants to get into university to a course of his choice after he completes his national service. I really hope this is the kick in the butt he needs, but we’ll know when the results for the semester are released.

And to reduce all the negativity floating around us, here’s today’s positivity thought

Anyway, stay safe and masked people and enjoy your weekend!

I read somethere this week a quote which resonated with me very strongly. The quote said, “You are not rejected, you are redirected”. This came the same day when I was rejected for a job I bid for. I knew then this was the universe sending me a message and I know there is something really special lined up for me.

Because of a wedding in the extended family, this week was super busy with lots of traditions and celebrations. The wedding was between two individuals of different communities and to see traditions from each community being followed was very sweet and showed us what a diverse melting pot India is.

Yesterday’s newspaper headlines said the world has hit the 2 million mark in terms of COVID-19 deaths and it was a very grim reminder of the crisis we are currently in. The current number of positive cases is slightly more than 94 million with the top three hit countries of the United States, India and Brazil accounting for more than 45% of the total cases worldwide!

Next week also promises to be a busy one and though this week I was very unproductive, I am determined to do as much as I can next week so I can make up for this week’s lack of writing. And here’s this week positive thought. This quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson really spoke to me when I first saw it. It tells us that when things are ready, they will appear in front of us, so there’s no point in hurrying. There’s a similar saying in Hindi which says “jab jab jo jo hona hai tab tab so so hota hai” meaning when something is meant to happen, it will happen and not a moment sooner!

Stay blessed, stay safe and stay masked everyone! It’s being said that 2021 will be harder than 2020, so stay as safe as you can, especially when you are outside the house.

The world looked in horror this week as scenes from the storming of the Capitol building in Washington were flashed across television screens and social media. The bastion of democracy was being stormed and this does not bode too well for the world. Hopefully, the incoming administration takes cognizance and action and arrests and sentences the perpetuators of this assault.

The week for us was the start of the work week for 2021. BB started school and will go pretty much every day for in-person lessons while GG still is on home-based learning and will go back to school only once a week. She is pretty frustrated and hopes that when the new semester starts in April, she also will get to go back to school on a daily basis.

In the latest COVID-19 numbers, the world has now seen nearly 90 million cases and as in previous weeks, the US leads with more than 22 million positive cases and India comes at number two with 10.5 million cases, followed by Brazil with 8 million cases. As with last week, Singapore had quite a few days with double digit cases and days with more than one case in the community, though the dormitories are pretty safe these days, due to increased testing.

To distract us from all this negativity in the world, here is today’s positive thought.

Take care people and stay safe, stay masked and get vaccinated as soon as you can!