Trivial affairs of notation these?
I think I'll go with 1 AD as a starting, and 10 as an ending. This would mean I celebrated the millennium and the start of a decade differently, but who cares? You live the millennium (at most) once :-P.
A decade ago, in 2001
- We had just shifted to India from Singapore. My brother and I got an almost double promotion, given the difference in starting dates.
- I was 12.
- I had learnt BASIC through a book lying at home. Any program that required more than two nested for loops was complicated. (It still is, but that is more because, there is often a better structure for the program at hand).
- I was extremely happy with a program that "animated", by displaying a /, |, \, -, successively with a delay.
- My favourite books were Enid Blyton, and the Hardy Boys. I liked The Five Find-Outers a lot.
- I was already on the Harry Potter bandwagon. I still remember getting scared of the thickness of the Goblet of Fire though. It took me an entire week to finish it.
- I used to spend a lot of time thinking. Just randomly thinking.
- I had heard of IIT, but had no idea of what it was.
In the last ten years, due to the support of my parents, my brother, and my friends, I was fortunate enough to get a lot of things I wanted, and some that I didn't (like this girth around my waist. :-/).
I have some of the most awesome friends (batchmates, seniors & juniors) I could have imagined. They have blatantly told me when I have been stupid, and acknowledged when I have been sensible. Some of them were responsible for what I consider to be one of the best decisions I made at IIT - pursuing a minor in literature.
I probably grew the most in the last ten years, than I will in any ten from now. The twenteens, they say. Life ahead looks a lot more serious than ever before. Having fun is a priority people soon forget, apparently.
Wish you all a happy holiday season.
