2020 has been an incredible year. For sure it has been a tough year but in all the difficult periods there are the big life lessons. The paranoia of the early days of the pandemic has given way to a little breathing space now. This pandemic has been a pause button on our lives and it was a time to take stock. It made us realise how privileged we were to have the things we had taken for for granted. It showed us what was truly important in our lives and what was the fluff in it.
Personally even in the middle of a raging pandemic, there were some silver linings-the biggest of which was the family time we were able to manage- which would have been impossible if we had our regular office commutes and schedules. The joy of seeing our daughter growing up and watching her cross various milestones can’t be expressed in mere words. Of course, there was nothing called free time for both of us even though we were at home for long stretches of time- Iksha made sure of it!
Professionally, despite the trying times, managed to try some new ideas in my surgeries and was part of some challenging surgeries-taking my work to a different level. I finally designed and launched my own professional website and Instagram channel-which I had been procrastinating for a long time. I have been sharing my patient stories, blogs, articles and surgical outcomes for more than 6 months now.
Research and publications-Managed to complete a few manuscripts, published a few of them/many on the way and some more ongoing work. I want to be publishing a lot more in the following year.
I don’t think I have read as much in any year as I have done this year- about everything from covid to history to politics. I used all my dishwashing time and later driving time to listen to podcasts and audio books. So hopefully I know a little more about the complicated world around me.
The thing I missed most this last year was my reduced contact with my patients. I also realised how important doing surgeries were to who I was. I was extremely grateful to restart surgeries later in the year and things are all looking better now.
A year is what it is made to be. Our attitude matters rather than what happens to us. 2021 will be similarly challenging but we’ve got put our best foot forward. Like this picture below where Iksha had her first taste of the beach. She was scared of the waves but I’m sure will learn to enjoy the tides very soon.
DR. RAGHURAJ HEGDE 