As the Decade of the 2010s is coming to
an end its the time to reflect on what we have seen and wonder what lies ahead in the 2020s. This blog existed throughout this decade if you would like to ruminate
over the views over most of the events in this decade. Climate Change is an issue of concern as
we faced extremes resulting in loss and devastation. Economies are sluggish
as trade war has made its impact. Polarization is extreme across most civilized
countries of the globe. The Middle East keeps on
burning to result in new threats of war and terror. On the other hand, we found the enormous change in
lives thanks to SMAC: Social Media, Mobility, Cloud and Analytics.
AI and Machine learning have opened up new horizons as well as created new threats.
Hope we find ourselves placed better on
31st Dec 2029 than what we are today. Are we better than what we
were on 31st Dec 2009? I still remember ending of 80s decade (on a star-studded night camped at Rajmachi under stars with friends, 90s (located at
Kasauni in the Himalayas experiencing the chill). On 31st Dec 2009, I
was in Colombo. It just seems yesterday as I today write this overlooking NYC
We saw Indian politics changed
around BJP and Modi in this decade. We started with terror strikes all across
India including one in my native Pune at German bakery in 2010 Feb, Corruption
in 2G, CWG, Anna Hazare movement and change in 2014 followed by well-meaning
campaigns like Make in India, Digital India, Swatch Bharat, Ujwala, Jan Dhan.
We all were supportive of Demonetization and GST. But these bold steps brought a slowdown in the economy as a by-product as several corrupt ways of doing business by the corporate and public sector was impacted as well. Unless some reforms are done,
India's story will lose its steam. Structural reform and infrastructure need
focus as well as improving the educational system to make our students employable. We
hope that happens in the 2020s for India. The successful fight against terror
continues in India. Thankfully outside Kashmir, there were no major terror damages.
The decade of the 2000s stared with dot
com bust, 9/11 and changes globally brought by it like wars, changes in travel
and leisure. Finally, the decade ended with the greatest recession after 2007 and the rise
of Obama. After 31st Dec 2009, the World economy started recovering. By
the middle of the decade, we saw politics in countries like US, France, UK,
Scandinavia, Australia, some countries in Europe change due to polarization
between right and left. Both economic models did not find the right solutions for
all the people across the countries and decades. But national identities
combined with historical issues made right and right of middle politics win
over left politics which neither had economical solutions nor moral uprightness
they pretended to have while always being hypocritical.
Now coming to the year 2019, which
is the purpose of this post along with some observations as a decade also comes
to an end along with, we can call 2019 a year of Perplexity.
England won the world cup but we
all felt NZ won it. BJP won the majority in Maharashtra but all the opposition
united and formed a government. Seasons got mixed with unprecedented rains.
Modi won the elections but lost states. Past historic blunders like Ayodhya,
Kashmir, CAA were corrected but the Indian economy was impacted as well. Indian team won most of the matches but lost
when it mattered most during the knockouts. It keeps everyone perplexed and curious
as to what 2020s have in store for us.
India saw efforts of Pakistan to
internationalize Kashmir at all forums. The new Pakistani regime tried new
tactics like the Kartarpur corridor, China pressure and use of International media
to malign India over Kashmir. They got new allies in Turkey and Malaysia. They
even tried Pulwama attacks which were responded strongly by the Modi Government.
Indian voters disregarded congress tactics over Rafale as they found no handle
to accuse the Modi Government of corruption. Indian voters were also positive about Swatch
Bharat, Jan-Dhan, Ayush, Ujwalla as govt tried to facilitate development to
reach the bottom of the pyramid. After elections as predicted Govt found the best
time to push the past agenda of BJP like uniform civil code, article 360, Ram
Mandir. This made all liberals find all the methods and ways to fight instead of
debating on the positive side of these issues. The opposition is trying to find
relevance by shouting that democracy, constitution, and inclusivity of Indian
ethos is under threat. But having studied the agenda there is no harm in trying
for uniform civil code or an attempt to give status to persecuted minorities. Ram
Mandir is an emotional issue rather than a title claim as acknowledged by SC as
well. It would have been great if that was resolved outside courts. The press stooges of congress and
old corrupt, urban Naxals ( as they call them these days in retaliation to
name-callings like Fascist, Nazis, and Bhakts) joined the protests politically
instigated making it look like India will have civil war much against the
reality. The loss of states can be resulted out of anti-incumbency which now is
a clear direction for state-level polls as we have seen and failing economy
which still remains my main problem with the current regime. Better they take
steps to turn things around. Also, they need to explain the position behind
sensitive issues like 360, CAA and invite meaningful debate instead of playing
into hands of the opposition who tried every step to stage a comeback. I feel India
needs to be more assertive and tackle issues head-on. The government should
prioritize economy.
On the world stage, right-wing clawed
back due to the hollow agenda of the left across the countries. Johnson won in the UK.
Poland, Hungary, Australia, Sweden, Brazil, France also saw right-wing thrust. The US remains polarized with impeachment trials. As we head into election year we
can see some strange decision making as well as strange political equations and
fallouts. Trade war with China will intensify creating global economic impact.
With the diminished role of the US in the world stage, China-Russia will try to strengthen its
impact across the globe. The Middle East continued to burn in 2019 with Russia backed
regimes of Turkey and Syria gained the ground versus ISIS. The clash between Iran
and Saudi will intensify as the US will take the Saudi side. The pullout from Afghanistan
has already begun creating terror issues. Pakistan burns so do Iraq. North
Korea –US dialogue failed to create concerns for South Korea and Japan. Terror,
civil wars and calamities continue to plunder Africa. Drugs and crime impact
south and Central America. We saw hate crimes in NZ, terror in Lanka. China
grew its tentacles in South Asian region challenging India in Nepal,
Bangladesh, Srilanka, Pakistan, Maldives.
Economically we saw trade war
creating global slowdown. It will continue to do so in 2020. Brexit will also impact
economic impact. Disruptive business models emerged in 2019 thanks to advances
in SMAC (Social media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud). Financial markets were
steady but are still prone to crisis. US economy has the lowest levels of
unemployment. The restrictive visa policies impacted Indian IT but new models
were created as well. Clean energy also lost its thrust with the strengthening of
shale oil technology. New aggregator models like Uber, Airbnb were
strengthened. Social media giants will need to revamp privacy and security
policies and models to avoid backlash by governments. Indian Corporate needs to
innovate further due to challenges in governance, technology and restricted
consumer spending due to the recession. Telecom, Airlines, Manufacturing, Retail,
Real Estate has been impacted. Banks are threatened but NPAs have gone down.
But the fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong to manage targeted growth by this
government. The government needs to focus on structural reforms as we head into the new
decade and we wish the world economy does not slide further due to tariff wars.
Maharashtra politics suffered
thanks to the survival instinct of one wily individual and his dirty political
games. The social fabric has already been destructed by his caste-based agenda. Now
he managed to split the ruling party’s coalition. The new government was formed
headed by the party which saw greater heights during Senior Thakre is reduced to be
just yes men of this individual and the family. Now let’s hope they do not
damage Maharashtra politics and society further by corruption and selfish
politics. BJP also made a great mistake accepting the pre-poll coalition. One particular
editor was the culprit in chief.
Pune citizens experienced that
local level politicians remain the same despite have tall central leadership. As
power equations changed the issues remained the same. Same Issues like Corruption,
unplanned growth, lack of infrastructure plague this wonderful city in the new millennium.
Only Hope is Metro. We also witnessed the results of climate change as we faced
unprecedented Rains in 2019. I hope we have a better climate in the 20s.
Indian science also had a good year
led by DRDO, ISRO (despite Vikram landing). Higher education still remains a
challenge. On world science, we saw unique ideas winning Nobel in various fields
including one in economics though doubtfully was won by not so scientific
agenda. We saw controversy surrounding CRISPR for gene editing. We also remain
skeptical of big pharma and healthcare to act benevolently to resolve major
issues faced by the populace. Space travel, AI opened new future possibilities. We
in past had referred to Vision 2020 which elaborated hi-tech possibilities in the last millennium. Now that we are there
these possibilities have materialized to some extent but possibilities are
enormous for this century.
Indian cricket year already is
reviewed on this blog. Read: 30 Minutes
Non-Cricket sports in India saw the greatest performances in Badminton led by PV Sindhu who finally won. Indian
also made an impact in doubles. India is in the group stage of Davis Cup Tennis. We
saw good performances in athletics, shooting, and boxing led by Mary Kom. Ladies
dominated. We now wait for the 2020 Olympics. I would be disappointed if we win any
less than 10 medals including at least one of them gold. Also am banking on
Hockey to make an impact on ladies and men’s events. On the world stage 2019 being an odd year there were no
major sporting events. In 2020 leap year we will have Olympics, Euro (hosted by
12 countries for the first time) and cricket t20 WC. We saw sublime
performances by FedEx again this year. Top4 continued to remain unchallenged. Club level
soccer saw a lot of changes as Liverpool emerged champions in EUFA.
In films, the trend of different kinds
of movies continued. A new strong generation of actors/directors has moved Bollywood
from old formulae to more varied and meaningful entertainment. Music though has
suffered as shouting and RAP took center stage. Marathi movies also flourished
and the music was also good. We have more international Indian origin authors prospering
but vernacular languages suffered.
Social media also has led human
beings to crossroads. More we are connected more we suffer due to complexes
watching others while bragging our own acts. Also, we tend to spread more fake
news and create social issues. Let’s
hope we are saner in the 2020s while using effective communication possibilities of
social media.
Let’s also hope we try to reclaim
our planet and stop climate change which will lead us to destruction. Lots of
noise was made about it this year without much action and usual politics.
On this note as the last day of
the decade ends, let’s hope we be better human beings in 2020 and beyond. Let’s
be more happy and healthy. Hope you Live your Dreams and Achieve your
Action, Mission and Vision 2020 whatever it is.
Wish you Happy Holidays and a
very Happy New Year.
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