India @74

Well, last year I was wrong!

Things took a turn for the worse in India’s 74th year, a lot worse. We nearly sailed over the Covid wave, celebrated early, even declared victory and then got hit hard by the variant. Those terrible weeks of April & May, where the nation was living through a collective trauma have been one of the most painful ones of recent times. People running around for oxygen cylinders and essential medicines. Queues for hospitals and even for cremations. Existing systems and the people manning them completely overwhelmed, yet carrying on. Even the crematoriums were malfunctioning due to excess use! Almost everyone was either affected themselves or had near and dear ones impacted. We were living in a dystopian reality. 

Amidst all this the key stakeholders in the Central government had gone incognito. There was an eerie silence, no words of reassurance or even acknowledgment of the grim situation came forth, and as it came out later no data as well. In fact, they were more in a denial mode. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens tried to help each other out. However, amidst the good Samaritans were the rotten apples as well, selling making a killing with exorbitant rates or worse providing fake medicines. Some finding their “aapda me avsar” while most citizens got a brutal lesson in becoming aatm-nirbhar. 

The government can’t even take full blame though, as the citizens kept flocking to potential hotspots – election rallies, sporting events, religious festivals and tourist spots, while not following even the basic mask and social distancing protocols. It has been a long year, but some more restraint would help. 

Then the Farmer Protests which have been going on for a while with no resolution in sight. Simply, because, it is in nobody’s interest to resolve it. The longer an issue runs, the longer it can be milked for various political purposes. 

The polarization of opinion on social media is near absolute. Every single issue is seen as either for or against with people picking sides based on their confirmation bias. Balance and logic in debates has simply gone for a toss. 

But enough of the negativity. It is said, read the newspaper back to front. The sports pages at the last register the human achievements while the rest of the pages are simply chronicling our failures.

Success in the sporting arena provided some succor. India had their best Olympics haul ever including a second Gold medalist in Neeraj Chopra and a potential resurgence in Hockey. What a moment it was to hear Jana Gana Mana played out in Tokyo! Hopefully the other Indian sports (i.e. non-cricket ones) build on from these Games. After all, our one billion plus populace should be able to easily accommodate all sports in the World. 

Cricket provided epic rearguard moment as the Aussie bastion of Gabba was finally breached. Yet, it was also in news for hosting the IPL amidst a pandemic. The argument of IPL providing a welcome distraction in the covid times began to ring hollow. And finally had to be suspended. The virus breaches even the most secure bio-bubbles. 

So, after a harrowing year, where do we stand? Dare we hope again for normalcy, as the vaccine roll-out gathers a bit of momentum while simultaneously bracing ourselves for further waves? Will there ever be a normal again? Or we keep adapting to the “new normal”? If the covid ravaged days have given one positive, it is the fact that one is not totally alone. Just ask for help. It might not necessarily come on time. But there will be people who will try (as per their might) to help out. And that to me is the silver lining amidst all the dark clouds. 

On that tiny note of positivity, a Very Happy Birthday to India!