2021: The Year Gone By

As the Year 2021 AD draws to a close, here is looking back at events (and non-events) to remember the year gone by. Some will be remembered, others just forgotten. But then that is the fun of making these lists. And 

1. Covid continues

We thought 2020 was bad. With the arrival of vaccines, 2021 was going to be better. Well, vaccines arrived but so did the deadlier variants as well as deadlier side-effects. Whenever we thought we had ridden a wave, another bigger wave came along. Can never forget the collective trauma of April-May which we in India went through. Hopefully with increasing vaccine coverage and better understanding of the disease we might be able to get a semblance of normalcy. 

2. Ever Given

If ever there was a metaphor for humanity's fight against the virus, it was the image of a tiny excavator trying to move the stuck container ship. One ship (albeit a very large one) disrupted the whole global supply chain. 

3. 87.58m

The distance that javelin flew. And just like that India had an Olympic Gold in Athletics! The crowning glory of our most successful Games ever. Thank You Neeraj Chopra! 

4. US Capitol siege

The seat of most powerful nation seiged by people who looked like they were in a fancy-dress parade. Amongst other things they walked off with the House Speaker’s podium. Surreal doesn’t even begin to describe the scene 

5. The Ultimate Fight

Every action movie director imagines that single shot of perfection – a perfectly choreographed fight scene going all over the place with protagonists moving in and out of the shot, all in a single take. This great Chaat fight of Baghpat had it all. (YouTube Link) 

6. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Monkeys avenging one infant’s death by killing off 250 puppies. They have even gone started attacking humans who attempted to protect the dogs. (Link)

7. Cred Ads

They are funny, but what exactly is the product? To be honest, seem to be celeb funny videos pretending to be a product ad. Rahul Dravid & Neeraj Chopra’s were the best ones. 

8. Reddit vs Wall Street

When reddit forum decided to take on Wall Street. And from nowhere the Game Stop’s share price zoomed up and stayed up destroying a couple of hedge funds. Lets not underestinate the power of the collective mob! 

9. Zoom Mishaps

Work From Home, online classes and virtual meeting are continuing. So are the additions to the zoom mishaps (or MS teams & Google Meet, platform doesn’t matter). It has become a video category in itself. Special mention – where a lawyer turned up with a cat filter on. He reiterates, “I am not a cat”.

10. The Perfect Work Background Noise 

A recording of a meeting of the Finance & Corporate Committee of Waipa District Council, New Zealand suddenly gained popularity as people started using it as background noise to show that they themselves are in a meeting and to not get disturbed (YouTube Link)

That was the Year 2021. Lets hope that we stop living in these “unprecedented” times soon and get back to the “old normal” in 2022. 

Wishing all readers, a Very Happy, Healthy and Safe 2022!

2021 - TYIL

This Year I Learnt (#TYIL) 

Another year draws to a close. And as is becoming a habit, made a list of some interesting (at least to me) learnings from this year. Although given the year that 2021 was, avoiding references to covid related learnings (and there were lots of them) in my list. 

1. Percussive Maintenance – a malfunctioning machine can be fixed by smacking it a few times. Remember all the radios and TV remotes. (Wiktionary) This definitely works! 
2. Challenger Deep in Mariana Trench is named after a ship the HMS Challenger which explored the world. (BBC) This was literally uncharted territory 
3. Zeigarnik Effect - Completion of a task can lead to it being forgotten. While you are more likely to remember things which are incomplete or where you have been interrupted.  (Psychologist World). Certainly true in Candy Crush where you don't recall any of the levels you breezed through in the first attempt.
4. Harrowing – literally means breaking up big clumps of soil into smaller ones. (Wikipedia) No better word to describe the year that is going by.
5. Pasqua Rosee – founded the first coffee shop in London – the pioneer of Starbucks and other Baristas! (BBC).
6. Smell-o-Vision – a system where odour would also be provided along with the action on screen! Unfortunately (or fortunately), never really took off. (Wikipedia)
7. First known transaction in bitcoins was in 2010 – 10,000 bitcoins for 2 Papa Johns pizza! (in Jan 2021 this would have been worth $300 Million) (Guardian) There is no competition now for the costliest food item ever!
8. First online order (bread, margarine & eggs) was made through a “TV” (BBC)
9. Pareidolia – a tendency to find patterns and images in random places (YouTube) (Merriam Webster)
10. Svetlana & Misha Zilberman – mother-son duo who have been Israel’s mixed doubles badminton champions (Scroll)
11. Hibakusha – people who survived the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings (Wikipedia)
12. K A Auty Cup – the oldest international sporting Trophy – for cricket series between Canada & USA. Although given the many change in formats and big gaps, it has not been a regular feature (Wikipedia)
13. Seiryu-Miharashi – railway station in Japan with no other access except by train. Only for people to have a good view. (Link)
14. Richard Norris Williams – survived the Titanic sinking and later that year won US Open. (Link)
15. The US Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb within its territory. Fortunately no human casualties! (How Stuff Works)
16. Mandela effect – a case of collective hallucination where a large group of people remember things differently from how it actually happened! (Healthline)
17. Pakistan’s high commissioner to India, Mohammad Ismail, wished to remain an Indian citizen (to protect his properties in UP) while being accredited to New Delhi as an envoy! 
18. Cryptomnesia - term for when a forgotten memory is repackaged as your own idea. You fail to remember who told you something, or where you read it, so you think it’s your own. (BBC). This is a different level of plagiarism!
19. Peltzman Effect – People are more likely to engage in risky behaviour when security measures have been mandated. Safety perception increases risk appetite (Link). became a popular term during the covid second wave. Couldn't avoid the reference
20. Taco Bell “borrowed” the idea of tacos from a Mexican restaurant “Mitla Café”. Amazingly both are still functioning – one as a fast food chain, other still in its standalone avatar (BBC)
21. Pedestrianism – who moves the most over 6 days! The sport has evolved into endurance racing, iron man triathalons and 24 hours of Le Mans (BBC)
22. Israel’s national anthem has been ripped off in Hindi film music. Well, at least it was a patriotic song! Thanks to the Olympics! (Hindustan Times)
23. Wright’s Law – states that for every cumulative doubling of units produced, costs will fall by a constant percentage. (ARK Invest)
24. Zeolites were used for water filtration by the Mayan civilization (BBC)
25. Slacktivism defined as the self-deluded idea that by liking, sharing, or retweeting something you are helping out. Although there are recent studies which say that that is not necessarily the case. (Urban Dictionary) (BBC)
26. The Great Hedge of India – built by British as a barrier along the customs line for taxing salt. Quite a costly affair to patrol and also a system of oppression of the natives (BBC)
27. Nipper – the dog on HMV’s label, listening to the voice of his late master Mark Barraud. (Firstpost)
28. Dactylonomy - counting on hands – the very basics of counting! (BBC) 
29. Phoebus Cartel – major lightbulb manufacturers including GE, Phillips, Osram decided to fix lightbulbs life at 1,000 hours instead of 2,500 hours. Longer life bulbs were not commercially viable! Started the planned obsolescence (Spectrum)
30. Pascal’s Triangle – every number is the sum of the two numbers directly above (Mathigon)

Well, 2021 was certainly a harrowing year. But we can always keep learning! Let’s see what new variants (in learnings) that 2022 brings. 

P.S. Lists from 2019 & 2020.