India @ 75

15th August – our Independence Day. Also, time for the annual blog post on all things India, a tradition which now enters its 15th edition. So, before we head into this one, here is the link for the 2021 edition.

75 years since independence – it has been a remarkable journey. The Government decided to mark the occasion as #AzaadiKaAmritMahotsav and launched the #GharGharTiranga campaign. A campaign which also resonated with the citizens. And the result - tricolours displayed everywhere, on buildings, individual houses and vehicles presented a beautiful sight (or a vihangam drishya, to borrow a phrase from Doordarshan’s Republic Day commentary).

After the travails of 2020-21, we finally seem to have got a grip on the pandemic (though still not completely over it). The covid waves are still coming, although its impact has reduced. The roll-out of vaccines, an arduous task specially in a country of our size, certainly seems to have had an effect in controlling the damage. Although we still don’t know the long-term impacts yet, but life is slowly coming back to normal.

I always believe in reading the newspaper from back to front. Because the sports pages (which come last) are filled with the stories of human achievements, unlike most of the other pages! In a non-Olympic and non-World Cup year, it would have been difficult to match the highs of Neeraj Chopra’s Olympics Gold. But our men’s Badminton team provided it by winning the Thomas Cup. Chopra himself followed it up becoming the first Indian athlete to win a World Championships Silver medal. And finally, we had the sports fans cheering the Lawn Bowls team at the Commonwealth Games, while simultaneously trying to learn the rules of this novel sport they had come across. Meanwhile the Football federation gets banned by FIFA, putting in jeopardy the upcoming Women's U-17 World Cup. Somehow, finding a cloud for a silver lining!

Where sports exist, so does betting. Although illegal, there are now a multitude of apps and sites providing a chance to win cash based on fantasy leagues! Most of them exploiting the grey area between a game of chance and a game of skill. However, some enterprising folks took this to a whole new level. They organized an entire fake IPL, streamed it, and made money off Russian punters! The sheer chutzpah of the scam is simply unbelievable! This is one story filled with lots of audacious elements – but finding people in Russia willing to bet on cricket matches takes the cake.

Whilst on the subject of online scams, there has been a surfeit of them. The mobile phone has become a minefield to be treaded through carefully. Fake job offers, fake tenants, changing numbers of legitimate businesses, sending links for payment, threatening to cut electricity supply, fake calls, hacking people’s social media accounts. Just how many traps can you avoid daily?

The initial lockdown days of Covid brought to light, how clean our environment could be with reduced human activity. While a lockdown is not the solution, it did show that the climate emergency could still be managed. In this regard, we have made a major commitment towards Net Zero by 2070. The economic costs of this transition will be quite high but something which needs to be done.

Which brings us to the economy. While we are not the worst performing, there are dark clouds looming all over the horizon. The collateral effects of Ukraine crisis, soaring energy prices and a looming food shortage are all potentially leading to a global economic recession. It will take significant political will to navigate through these VUCA times. Credit to the government for taking a stand and getting cheaper Russian crude.

On the political front, we had a change of leadership at the top. Meanwhile, in various states, the state governments keep changing not through elections but via backroom political manipulations and resort management. Certainly not a sign of a healthy democracy.

Meanwhile the social media discussions and debates continue to become more and more toxic. The balance is completely gone and replaced by a “with us or against us” mentality. Wonder what vaccine will help in resolving this.

Overall, it has been a year of coming out of chaos but there are threats looming everywhere. Let’s see what the next one holds.

On that note, Happy Birthday India! Jai Hind!