It's been a Year !!

Fifty years down the line when you’ll be narrating a story of your times, HIS-Story (sic) as it shall be christened in that era, to your grandchildren, 2011 won’t come across as a quiet and dull year, rather a year that had myriad stories of its own. A year that will rise up on its own, as if to tell its own story.

A year that calls for a separate volume to keep an account of all the happenings that ensued, a year that saw a wave of popular revolution sweeping the Arab world, a year that despite spectating a premature apocalypse in the form of the Fukushima disaster and the Philippines flood, saw the 7 billion barrier breached by the world population moving at a swifter pace than the neutrino which broke the light barrier. The year also saw this particle discovered by the CERN scientists, which could go on to knock a potential punch in the face of Einstein’s famous relativity theory which forms the holy grail of modern physics. We stand at the ground of uncertainty, where all our previous knowledge is put to question, this can be the beginning of an all new era, another dimension can step forth, I am sure there’s yet another genius out there with all the answers. 2011 can just be the year that triggers off the biggest change we’ve had.

 All of this just forms the cover of the paper back novel, the year rolled on some great events, and I attempt to pick some records from the otherwise vast ledger of 2011. 

2011 was a year that saw the people of the world rising up to a new technology driven democracy, Facebook and Twitter weren’t just the abode for avocation, we saw a huge people’s movement getting the initial spark on a Facebook page, as thousands joined hands and gathered at the Tahrir square to protest against the 30 year old tyranny of Hosni Mubarak. Eventually it were the people who had their heads up, this craving for democracy didn’t end there, and the wave grew up in size and engulfed the adjacent countries too. 2011 also witnessed the final nail being mercilessly driven into the coffin of some of the most despised souls on the planet. A year which announced itself with the SEAL-6 team making easy work of the most dreaded terrorist in the world (read Osama bin Laden) ended with a torturous picture of Muammar Gadaffi sent to Abraham’s bosom by the NTC. While the world bid goodbye to the most unwanted supper companions it had, it also had to reluctantly bid adieu to one of the most talented and cordial people that step forth on this planet.

As the world was bracing itself for the launch of the much anticipated iPhone 4S, it ended up mourning the news of Steve Jobs’s death the day after the new Apple CEO, Tim Cook who had recently filled in the shoes of the legend, showcased the new device in Cupertino city, later on the phone became a tribute to the man who redefined the aesthetics of technology. India too had its share of bad luck, greats like Jagjit Singh, M.A.K. Pataudi, Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and many others kicked the bucket, may their souls Rest in Peace. The viral was caught in the fictional realm too as thousands lined up outside the theatres to catch Harry Potter one last time on the celluloid, the impact and the nostalgia was so massive that people went to attend mourning brunches after watching “Deathly Hallows – 2”.

On the financial front, Greece begged Santa for an early Christmas present, a bailout, something that it has been pleading for since long, The Eurozone leaders had to play Santa again, but the question still remains unanswered, is that the end of the Crisis? IMF and the World Bank seem like they are looking down the barrel.

Barack Hussein Obama who kicked off the year in style, the hero who ended the devil’s decade old reign of terror and gave redemption to millions, turned into Satan for the Americans as the year went on.  Ugly visuals of people being harassed during the occupy Wall Street campaign made another side of America visible to the world.

The year saw the maestro unable to wield his magic on the tennis court; Roger Federer failed to win a grand slam as a certain Serb who went by the name of Novak Djokovic nailed everything that came his way (no pun intended). Nadal too succumbed to the heat and a wobbly body; with a choking physical prowess, he could only defend one of his titles in 2011. The Swiss still managed to salvage some pride by the end of the year, as he ended it on a 17 match winning streak which ended a day ago at Abu Dhabi,  and rounding off an otherwise sad 2011 with the ATP masters.

India made it big in the international motorsports arena, hosting the first Indian GP. The hockey team did us proud by winning the Asia cup. Some things were constant in the year, the slashing stock exchange in the country and our native students getting ruthlessly killed in the foreign nations. The former being a bigger worry for some though I have a different opinion. Our affable neighbor continued to play with the self-destruct button and our PM kept sitting like a lame Duck, the year that saw NASA putting curtains on the space shuttle program also saw Petrol, Diesel and Gold prices sky rocketing to new heights.

 “The news of the world” rolled out its last issue as the Murdoch scion was alleged of tapping the conversations of British soldiers in Afghanistan. Talking of armed forces, The news of the American troops in Iraq being welcomed back to their own territory was indeed one of the “pleasant to ear” news.  It’s harder to end a war than to begin one. The world lived on in terror as it heard terrible news of China and other fancy pants countries testing modern warfare weapons. But the new Coke ad screened at the tail end of the year taught us that for every weapon being made, 1 million mothers bake a cake for their kids, love is more searched than fear, and it’s true, even amidst all this drama we had a catchy song Kolaveri di registering 10 million views in a span of 10 days on YouTube, that’s amazing given the fact how many people understand Tamil, a stark reminder that at the end of the day art has no barrier.

The year saw a dismal end for an Indian cricket fan, as we not only gave our top spot in test matches at the beginning but also ended with a five match defeat streak on offshore grounds, though we continued to do good on home turf. Bruised, battered and beaten was the fate of the Indian team at the end of the year. The Indian team is like this top notch Rolls Royce, just when the clock strikes “Overseas Pressure” it turns into an ugly pumpkin. A little bit of more fairytale magic can be used, and if at all there was a question, the fairy being alluded to is NOT Poonam Pandey (Note to BCCI). The year also saw the termites of cricket meeting their fate, as Asif, Amir and Butt were banned for Spot Fixing in cricket.

The dream of SRT’s hundredth ton came within sniffing distance on umpteen occasions, but still denied us of that nonpareil pleasure all throughout the year. Guys like Peter Siddle and Ravi Rampaul were almost made national enemies and were on the verge of not receiving an Indian Visa. The loss at MCG coupled with the disastrous parliament sessions debating the Lokpal Bill spelled utter despair for an Indian. The sight of the Indian politicians turning into a rabble on television was disturbing and equally so was the visual of a certain 80 year old man, a Gandhian known as Anna Hazare, fasting for a little over 12 days for our rights, an act which was hard to replicate even for our revered Yoga Guru Ramadev as the latter gave in, in less than a week. Guess the LAUKI juice is his elixir to survival. Our worthy politicians also pressed harder to filter the available content on the internet; it’s only apt that you are reading it over here.

Amidst all this the “crème de la crème“ moment came in on 2nd of April, that of the Cricket World Cup finally falling into our laps after a wait of 28 years. One of my childhood dreams came into tangible form, Billions had waited for it for so long and the wait finally paid off, the jewel that had eluded us for close to three decades eventually dropped in our cabinet. The man who carried the burden of the nation for 20 years was carried on the shoulders of his teammates on a ground that looked on as he evolved from a boy to an iconic figure. This without a doubt brought the biggest smile on my face; I am sure along with me many others were emotionally drained too. Surely this moment takes the cake for me.

This has been the story of 2011, pardon me if I missed out on some important issues and focused on sports a little too much, I didn’t want to miss the family on the breakfast table as I am already way past my bed time, couldn’t have afforded a nightmarish 2011 timeline flashing past me in my sleep.

Finally, The year has come to an end, we all have made some cherished memories and shared some amazing moments, some tough and bitter times chipped in too, it’s time we send them out the door with great hope and expectations, for the next year promises better things in store for us. Let’s believe in the promise of a better tomorrow.

P.S. The incidents are tabulated in the order that they occurred to me. Things like the Royal wedding and Justin Bieber were intentionally kept out of this. I don’t think I need to support that with a rationale.

                            


                THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR AN AMAZING YEAR !!