One more eventful year is ending today. Can we pause a little and reflect on what went by? Whereas in the last year, the pandemic, as is its wont, went up and down, keeping us at home for most of the year, this year we were better off, but still glued to our screens and coming to terms with new challenges. Yet, we found succour in the comfort of our families and friends. Technology bound us all with our meetings on zoom and family functions conducted online. The year provided the support for us to learn, stay informed, choose wisely, and adapt to new realities.
Even as the uncertainty grew and ebbed in waves, we smiled, we cried and we travelled together on our journeys, partly online and partly offline. We did experience, achieve and envision a great synergy in our lives, though not everyone was as lucky. There were families that were completely maimed, be it in their personal, work or social lives.
For most of us, the personal goals were health, wellbeing, and fitness. We tried to improve finances and looked at alternate earnings. Some of us spent time with family, though most of us did it with our mobiles. Some of us were a little more productive, reading books. Some of us enhanced our value professionally by acquiring some micro credentials. For me, books were company, so the perspective was never lost.
One particular book that I read comes to mind. Titled “Bear Necessity” by James Gould-Bourn is poignant and filled with emotions. Danny and his son, Will, were in great grief, when Liz, Danny’s wife and Will’s mother, died in an accident a year earlier. Eleven-year-old Will couldn’t speak a word ever since, whereas his father was overwhelmed dealing with debt and unpaid bills, having lost his job. His desperation made him purchase a panda costume and become a dancing bear to earn some money, even as he watched local street performers antics. However, one day, while performing, Danny sees his son being bullied by his friends in the school and chases them away. His son was now deeply attached to the panda even as he doesn’t realize, it’s his father. Eventually, the son finds out the truth. However, now the father is left anguished and struggling to keep the trust that had developed between him and his son. This story of a boy trying to find his voice and a father trying to find his way, was distressing as much as it was touching.
Even as the story rings true for so many of us, who were slowly coming to terms with our disrupted routine, figuring out the way forward, tragedy struck another part of the planet, we live in. February, this year, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the genesis of which goes back to 2014. The former Soviet collapse was never reconciled to the division of financial assets, resources, territory, as well as nuclear and conventional weaponry between itself and its new constituents. The dispute between Moscow and Kiev eventually broke apart violently after the pro-European movement came to power in Kiev in November 2013. Whatever be the genesis, why must the people of Ukraine suffer? Why must they be maimed? Why must property be destroyed? Can Russians leave their bravado and machoism behind this night? Can there be a new dawn for the Ukrainians tomorrow?
Back home, we have had some hits and some misses. Misses first. The China India Skirmish in the Himalayan border is one. Women and children safety that leaves a lot desired is another. Hits now. Unlike China, India has had a measure of Covid. We also have some measure of the terrorist groups operating in the country. The G20 Presidency, comprising 19 countries and the European Union that works to address major issues related to global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development is another.
The world now acknowledges us more than they ever did. Andy Warhol, an American visual artist, film director, and producer once wrote, “They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself”. An ‘Atmanirbhar’ Bharat has truly sown the seeds of ‘Viswaguru’ in 2022. It can only go forward from here on.