2009 – a fantastic year comes to a close!

Another year comes to a close! First, let me wish you all a fantastic New Year ahead! May all your wishes and dreams turn true!!!

To me, 2009 turned out to be one of my best years so far! Many firsts, many challenges overcome and goals reached, an addition of a cutie-pie in my family (baby girl) and much more!

The most important thing was the birth of my daughter! She was born on 21-Nov-2009. She has changed me forever. My world is now filled with fairy tales! Here is a pic of her.

Financially too, the year has been great. I reached my personal networth goal for 2009 in July itself, aided hugely by the stock market surge. I managed to better my own goal by 33%… inspite of more than expected spending. My yearly savings figure for 2009 stood at 51.6%.

If you kept adding to your folio during the downturn without listening to naysayers, you made a killing. The Nifty in 1 year went from 2959 to 5201, a rise of almost 76%. If you picked your stocks well, you even made 3-5 baggers. My biggest gainers were Yes bank, BEL, LMW, GDL, etc all of which had a high weightage in my folio in addition to Nifty bees and Junior nifty bees. Ever since the Nifty hit P/E of 18+, I had been a seller. In Sept, Nifty P/E hit 22 and I sold almost 40% of my index holdings. However, I am holding onto my individual picks except Yes bank which I had sold during the year.

I had also topped up on term insurance coverage for self and spouse from Aegon Religare. Also invested a bit of money in Aegon Religare Invest Maximizer as I really liked the switch options provided by ULIPs (they are tax free unlike in the case of MF switching). Also, it is one of the cheapest ULIPs in market today. Post June, I have been putting my money into floating rate funds mostly. I am not finding anything attractive enough. And I dont want to put it into the index unless P/E drops below 18. My regular contributions towards PPF, EPF (voluntary), MF’s, etc have continued too.

Professionally, 2009 was a dull year. I was working on things I was not really enjoying doing. And I was free most of the time, and you know what happens to an idle brain. It rots!! But all that is set to change. I am changing project starting Jan 4. Am looking forward to it. (In hindsight, having been free has really helped me get into a lot of extra-curricular activities that I really enjoyed. Also, this phase, I believe has helped mould me into a much better person)

2009 was a fantastic year for extra-curricular activities. Few being cycling, traveling a ton, going on bird watching trips, driving to exotic locales, photographing fantastic landscapes, meeting different people, etc.

A few things that I did in 2009 on my hobby front

1. Purchased D90 Nikon DSLR and added 3 lenses to my kit. 50mm prime, 18-70 and the 70-300VR, all Nikkor lenses.
2. Purchased a Trek 4300 cycle and a ton of accessories.
3. Cycled in Coorg, Ooty and Agumbe in addition to places around Bangalore
4. Birding in Masinagudi, Coonoor, Ooty, Mysore, etc in addition to places around Bangalore like Kanakpura, Ragihalli, Devarabetta, Valley school, GKVK, Jakkur, Manchinebele, Komaghatta, etc.
5. Photography trips to places like Sigandoor, Keladi, Ikkeri, Belur, Halebid, Koodali, Ooty, Bokapuram, Coonoor, Kotagiri, Shimoga, Gopalaswamy betta, etc in addition to places around Bangalore
6. Developed interest in the heritage of our country. Want to explore more forts, temples and ancient buildings in S.India
7. Researched so much about Nilgiris that I can write a book myself. Discovered a few old British trails, alternative routes via forests to places like Doddabetta, Kalhatty falls, etc. Read a ton on Nilgiris. Went on birding trips to almost every corner in and around Ooty. Tried to find out the present day locations of 200 year old paintings. Spoke to tribals. What not. And, also purchased the domain www.neilgherries.com (Old British name for Nilgiris), but havent had the time to set it up.
8. Attended Kalyan Varma’s photography workshop
9. Watched a lot of plays @ Rangashankara and have been bitten by the drama bug ever since.

A few pictures from my portfolio.

A few shots taken during my cycling rides (using compact camera)

Cycling scene in Bangalore

Hmm… cycling in Bangalore is picking up fast. I see a lot more cyclists on the road these days. From the expensive Trek’s and Merida’s to the low cost Hero’s and Hercules’, you see them all. Clad in colorful attire complete with gloves and helmets, cylists here are pedaling their way towards a better and healthier Bangalore.

This year has been a wonderful year for cycling. We had the cyclothon. We have our own BBCh races and of course, any weekend, there are riders contemplating between a Nandi hill ride and a Bannerghatta trail ride. Some like Francis and Shreekumar keep planning for their next 1000Km ride. And events like TFN have helped immensely in popularising the sport. Cycling is amongst the most happening things in Bangalore now.

Also, I see a lot of cycling oriented adventure sports ventures springing up. A few that I know are

• Cycling and more
• Muddyboots
• Tandem Trails

And the forums are bubbling with activity.

• Bikezone
• Bangalore bikers club
  

Hmm.. the tribe is growing and carbon footprints are rising! How wonderful it would be if we had dedicated parking and cycling lanes in the city!! I see that happening pretty soon in the near future, at least in Bangalore, at least in a couple of places. (Recently the GGI members managed to convince Forum mall management to allow cyclists in.. way to go!)

Now, isn’t it high time you got a life? Go get a cycle! And use it!

BSA Cyclothon

I have registered for the BSA Cyclothon. For the 50 Km amateur ride.

Have you registered too?

Tour of Nilgiris – birding, cycling, photography & nature

Would anyone be interested in a trip to Nilgiris from Sept 18-25.

As of now, we are two people. Dev and I. We are looking for more company. The ideal head count would be between 4 and 6. If you are interested, do let us know.

We intend to carry our cycles on a car and do a lot of cycling as well. So, a cycle is a must for this ride. (If you dont have one, can be rented). Also, since cycles will be carried too, I think only 2 can ride in a car unless it has room for more.

The activities planned for this trip are:

• cycling
• bird watching
• nature and landscape photography
• Nilgiri mountain train ride
• street photography at places like Stephen church, Assembly rooms, etc

The itinerary is as follows. Have also mentioned the estimated cost, stay, etc. However, the final version could change too.

NOTE:  Would also appreciate your feedback for the plan below.

Spot the bird!

Can you spot the bird in the picture?

Bangalore Bikers Club

If you like cycling and if you are in Bangalore, here is something you should not miss.

Bangalore Bikers Club

Visit this group

Subscribe to this club