I started this trend last year to do a round up of my year - Major highlights and lowlights. 2020 has been a tumultuous ride for the whole world. COVID-19 shook the world and life has anything but normal since then. So here is how my 2020 went. 

Image courtesy: Google

The Onset of COVID-19 

Image courtesy: Economic times/India times

The end of 2019 already had us aware when China fell under the spell of a new virus known as COVID-19 but no one had imagined that it would become a pandemic from an epidemic. Year 2020 started off with the spread of COVID-19 to European countries and imposition of lock down. It was the end of March that Pakistan also caught the wave and we went into lock down mode on 21st March I believe. I got married in December 2019 and was still in my honeymoon phase when the world shut down. I was still adjusting into this new phase of my life. I am super thankful to Lord almighty who was merciful enough to let us retain our jobs. Being in Pharma sector proved to be in favor during this tough time. The downside was that me and my husband, both got little to no downtime or work from home and we were 24/7 exposed to the risk of falling prey to the deadly virus. Thankfully we have managed to stay safe so far and hope same shall remain the case in future as well. I worked from home for 15 days only and ever since March week two, I am working from my office premises. As much as this pandemic has caused an upheaval in the world, I found a few upsides to it as well. I got to stay at home for 2 weeks straight and it was so relaxing and refreshing. This was probably my longest stay at home duration after my 3 weeks of work leaves for wedding in 10 years span since I had started working. Another upside to the pandemic was less socializing. One of the few things I dislike about our culture is the over socializing. People barge into other people's home with no notice and no regard of time or emotional needs. Majority still has not caught up with the set up of working partners and how difficult it is for them to take out time after work to entertain guests while they just want to relax, decompress and spend time with their own family and manage a house and other chores. COVID-19 proved really helpful to fend people off with a genuine excuse and my apologies to people who endured this ordeal manifolds because people were home so it was easy for them to bombard others. 

Learning Spectrum 

Image courtesy: elearningindustry.com

One thing I did not want for myself was to be this married woman who is defined by her marriage only with no personal ambitions and aspirations. I did not want to limit myself after getting married. Thankfully my husband is more aware of this than me and time to time he encourages me to do something new. Be it learning a new skill, or acquiring a new hobby. On the learning spectrum, I took 2 cooking courses this year - Thai and desi from Ruhi appa. She is a great cook and I have taken several cooking classes from her. I shall be dropping the link to her page at the end of the post. I don't take these classes for any commercial reason rather to learn new things and use them to my benefit. Thai course was an instant hit as I made a few dishes within the week I learnt them and they were liked by all. I also took on a creative writing course online in the last quarter of 2020 as part of personal growth. It was super helpful and I learnt a lot of basics which we tend to ignore in our writings frequently. I shall also be sharing the link for this course if anyone is interested. I also took two trainings in official capacity on communication skills. All in all, I'd say, 2020 was not so bad in terms of learning new things. However, I could have been more active in taking online courses and free trainings which so many people did during the lockdown period. I'd also give myself the leverage that when most people were working from home, I was sitting in my workplace with regular timings. 

The Marriage Roller Coaster 

Image courtesy: forthefamily.org

We have this adage in our culture "jis ny shadi ka ladoo khaya wo pachtaya and jis ny na khaya wo bhi pachtaya" which in the literal sense means that Marriage is such a sweet delicacy, the one who eats it also regrets and who doesn't, also regrets. 2020 began with me adjusting to my marriage. I shall admit that I underestimated the enormity of this life altering experience. As much as I thought, I'd be able to take it in a stride, who was I kidding? Its not easy to settle into the new environment, with unknown people and new norms easily. The expectation bars are pretty high on both sides in most cases and striking the right balance isn't always like a stroll in a park. The only candid experience was shared with me by one of my bosses who told me that expect ginormous fights in first 6 months, only then both shall learn to read between the lines, extract the actual meaning of the words and learn to understand the unsaid. I must say he was absolutely right. Its only now after a year that I can say that I can feel myself settling in well. I can not say the same for my husband though. I am much grateful to the fact that I knew my husband before my marriage and didn't jump in blindly. Loads of love to the girls who get into this relation on arranged terms. They are real superwomen. Apart from this, I miss my parents, I miss my home, I miss my room and my bed which is like a safe haven for me. I have adjusted well into my new place and my room and toilet feels like its my space and I own it. However, home is where mother is! Good thing is I have become accustomed to my new place and my bedroom feels like mine. 

Road Trip

Image courtesy: cntraveler.com

Another highlight of 2020 was the short road trip me and Sohail took to Islamabad. It was a couple only trip and we drove to Islamabad in August for a weekend get away. I'd do a separate post on this in detail as to where we went and what we did. However it was so refreshing after Corona peak and Corona talks for past few months. A much needed break and refresh button. 

I suppose these were the highlights of my year 2020. A bit late in posting but definitely worth sharing. Below are the links to Ruhi Appa's cooking classes based in Lahore

Cook n Eat Catering and Cooking

and Kainat Maqbool's Creative Content writing courses 

Digital Wizards

I'd like to end the post by saying that 2020 was indeed a world altering and life changing year for all of us. My sympathies and prayers to people who lost their loved ones, their incomes, their life stability and anything else during these challenging times. Please know that my best wishes are with you and hopefully things will turn for the better soon. xoxo!!!