Year of Reset

 

The year 2020 was the year of reset.  There was a time in 2020 when Mr. Today after taking over the charge from Mr. Yesterday had waited for Mr. Tomorrow. Mr. Today was locked down at home, away from the place of work. This provided him an opportunity to introspect and reset his own life having learned many things. 2021 started with all the hope. Vaccines arrived and we thought our Mr. Tomorrow had a lot of catching up to do. But then the virus from Wuhan had other ideas, it simply couldn’t be contained. It came out strong with mutations and unleashed delta which hit badly and now threatens again with omicron.  This kind of start and stop pattern emerged in all aspects including politics, business, education, environment, sports, and entertainment.

2021 has taught that the virus will be the reality of our lives and we need to find ways to live with the Virus. Science is the only tool we have to deal with the Virus. Vaccines, Medicines, healthcare facilities, Masks, Sanitization, Smart Distancing, and natural immunity with a healthy lifestyle are the things we should adapt to in order to face this Virus. Politics and society have tried to undermine science. In India, we were hit by delta and we were left unprepared. The legacy of poor healthcare infrastructure was the handicap we had to fight delta in April-May. We started the year with a situation where we felt we had conquered the virus. The head start we had in vaccines was proven inadequate.  International media and internal politics left no stone unturned to blame the Indian Government. But just like now we see how even the developed countries struggle with a huge number of cases even with the better health infrastructure, our sheer numbers put a new perspective of our challenges. The record vaccination also helped us recover but we have many more challenges to face.

We had similar starts and stops in the international political scene. US withdrawal from Afghanistan and reemergence of the Taliban was a setback for peace and normalcy return to the region but someday that had to happen.  The solution lies within the people of Afghanistan to find a system and order based on democratic and modern principles. The peace process in Palestine and Israel, Iran dynamics with the western world, Issues in Russia-Ukraine, Myanmar also had starts and stops. China-US trade and cold war also had new implications for years to come.  US change in regime was marked by violence and new regime also had starts and stops with policymaking. The US faced issues of polarization and gun violence. Africa continues to struggle with political strife while South America struggles with crime.

In India, we saw internationalized protests against much-needed reforms in the agro sector. The western intelligentsia and media surprisingly were opposing the same reforms which are firmly in place in their own backyards. The government had to wilt under pressure which indicates how lobbying and elections impact overall policies. Thus we saw starts and stops to much-needed reforms to help our economy. The nuisance value of terrorists in Kashmir, NE, and internal belts remained persistent.  China postured and threatened on the border dispute. Parliament also had starts and stops with disruptions.  We saw state elections in Bengal where TMC held her ground versus emergent BJP. BJP also held ground in Assam.  Left held ground in Kerala while DMK won in Tamilnadu. There were government and head changes in Karnataka, Uttarakhand.  Maharashtra politics saw new lows with corruption, power-brokering, police scandals, and drug accusations against ministers.

Despite the reduction in carbon emissions in 2020 due to lockdowns, global warming continued its threat endangering the environment to a critical level. An agreement made known as Glasgow Climate Pacts requests countries to revisit and strengthen their climate pledges by end of 2022. We need to act and slow down the increase in temperature to contain the disaster. We already have seen cyclones, heat waves, droughts, earthquakes, floods everywhere on the planet in 2021.

In business, we saw record stock market indices indicating consolidation and different expectations out of stock markets. Indian economy showed signs of recovery but then omicron fears may again introduce stutter in 2022.  We saw Indian CEOs taking over big tech and other global companies. The job market was crazy for the tech sector though other sectors also seem to have caught up. The Indian government has the challenge to reform the economy as well as define policy on cryptocurrencies. It has also its task cut out to position India amidst the world situations especially in the context of trade wars. Big tech also lost trust along with Big Pharma based on how Covid effects have cascaded.  Government restrictions on the movement of people during pandemic will no longer be an option in 2022. The oil price war had a great impact on economies and sustainable alternate energy options are now very much needed. We also saw space-the final frontier creating some new business models in 2021.

Bollywood also had a mixed year with theater opening of big-ticket movies like Suryavanshi and 83, while many chose OTT ways. OTT, TV, and the music industry had a mixed year with hits and misses.  Cricket had mixed years with two different stories emerging in tests and limited overs. We had an extraordinary test cricket year with wins at opposition fortresses like Gabba and Centurion. We also won at Lords and Oval in an incomplete series. Only if we could have held on for 1.5 hours in WTC finals it could have been perfect.  But on the limited-overs side, we just fumbled in T20WC. Hopefully, Dravid-Rohit will be able to sort that out in 22. We had the greatest Olympics with Gold and other medals in various sports. The revival of men’s and women’s hockey was very pleasing. We also had a good year in Badminton.

Hope we have a great free-flowing 2022 based on all the wisdom given by 2021.