The year that was

Well, it’s been over a year since my last blog entry. Several thoughts came up in my mind during the last one year and several incidents happened, but none of them provoked me to write about them. However, when I look back at the year that went by, I feel that some events took place in the country as well as around the world which are kind of indicative that some of Nostradamus’s predictions may become true sooner or later. As far as I’m personally concerned, this was undoubtedly my busiest year academically.

This was a year in which almost all the cities of India which were considered terrorism free became victims of terror. The most shocking undoubtedly was the Mumbai terror attack which was a kind of slap in the face of the intelligence agencies of a nation which is more often than not seen as one of the next superpowers. It also was a sign of how bureaucracy comes in the way of everything that happens in India and how the key decisions are delayed because of the same. It was a year when the public rage towards the septuagenarian and octogenarian politicians was visible from all corners of the country. I hope that Indian people have finally come to understand that it is time for the younger breed of Indians to take of the political affairs of the country from our grandfathers’ generation as they are simply too old to adapt to the immense changes taking place globally. It will only be a matter of time before the political parties realize the same and hopefully we’ll have more prime ministers of Rajiv Gandhi’s age that those of Moraji Desai’s age.

This was a year when the concept of Hindu terrorist’s involvement in bomb blasts came to light. It was a good lesson for the police and intelligence agencies in the way that a terrorist is a terrorist. He has no religion other than terror. He wants to kill. He is a parasite that needs to be made extinct. Hence, steps should be taken to eliminate it and they should not single out any community to put the balme on. India as a nation should learn a lesson or two from Israel, a nation smaller than most of the states in India on how to handle terrorists and disturbing neighbours. Their zero tolerance policy towards any kind of hostage crises is something that India should learn. Had it not been for Kandahar, the terrorists would not have been got the guts and courage to strike as freely and frequently as they have been doing in this decade.

It was a year when the media overdose finally irritated the masses and all the 24/7 news channels were criticised for their inability to self-censor. It was a good lesson they learnt and we all hope that the learning acquired would be applied appropriately in the future.

There were a few positives to pick from this year too. Sports is one domain where India performed beyond expectations. Even though the inability of the Indian hockey team to qualify for Beijing 2008 was kind of a national shame; the shooters, boxers and wrestlers more than made up for it by making out country proud and winning 3 medals for the nation for the first time. Cricket was another sport where India performed really well considering that the team hardly got any rest. Two great cricketers, Anil (all 10) Kumble and Sourav (maharaj) Ganguly retired from the team. It was a year where the fall of cricketing superpower Australia might have finally begun, though it is a little early to conclude that.

This was a year when America elected its first Black president which was my all means historic. It is a sign of the world’s oldest democracy coming to age and hopefully, their next president will be a woman. This was a little cheering for the American people too as that nation has been affected by a recession not seen for long and their powerful organizations, which were once an envy of the whole world came down as pack of cards.

I sincerely hope that 2009 will be a lot better than what 2008 was and will bring in unity amongst the major powers around the world to take stock of the economic and security mess of 2008 and work proactively and collaboratively to turn things around for the betterment of the mankind.