Ringing in 2011
With apologies to Dickens, 2010 was the best of times and the worst of times.
Scamsters ruled the roost, and their misdeeds grew more boldly outrageous, delighting crooks and disheartening the common Indian citizen. With TV, radio and cable channels a dime-a-dozen screaming for attention, the best way to grab wayward eyeballs (lacking grey matter to back them up?) was to highlight the heights of unscrupulousness. The Adarsh idealists, the conmen allegedly out to make fast mega crores from the CWG, every crook and their nearest and dearest grabbed centrestage until some media darlings stole the show by getting themselves entangled in dubious tapes. Days before the opening of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the nation’s prestige tottered with the collapse of a vital footbridge. Accommodation for athletes from 71 countries was reportedly not ready, and UK inspectors turned up their noses saying the facilities were “unfit for human habitation”. The preparations for India's largest ever sporting event raised doubts of mismanagement of crores of rupees for years.
Cheering the hearts of every patriotic Indian, 2010 proved that the fine art and science of hera-pheri isn’t restricted to our countrymen. The world over, basic human nature oozed through superficial veneers of principles and honesty, and people everywhere cheated and lied just like us. In the world of sports, Tiger Woods’ alleged extra-marital shenanigans, cricket match fixing, use of banned performance-enhancing drugs and other unsporting concerns overshadowed the ideals of fair play and sportsmanship. The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks kicked up a ruckus by releasing a whopping avalanche of secret documents with details of incidents of corruption, friendly fire, civilian casualties and deaths relating to the war in Afghanistan. Among the biggest leaks in US military history, its aftershocks rocked even the White House.
Controversial Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi stood up to face flak with commendable bravado following allegations surrounding his weakness for teenaged belly dancers as well as by rumours of corruption. Our own netas and roadside romeos alike can take heart from the 74-year-old Italian’s attitude as he declared, “As always, I work without interruption and, if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it’s better to like beautiful girls than to be gay”.
Life around the world revolved around money. Throughout the year, a miniscule creamy layer of our citizenry indulged in the urge to splurge on palatial mansions, exotic gourmet delicacies, and bigger and more dazzlingly obese Indian weddings. They brushed aside signs of pervading poverty under their plush carpets and into our festering urban slums. Meanwhile, Indian farmers continued to commit suicide. Grave concerns were raised over the economic stability of several Western nations, where the state of affairs began to show striking resemblances to life in India. Thousands protested peacefully in Athens against the Greek government’s austerity plans to lift the country out of a financial crisis that had rocked international markets and weakened the euro. Our desi bandh-hartaal culture inspired the Greeks to call a one-day national strike, which brought daily life to a halt.
The impact of imminent economic collapse threatened Europe and world economies. G20 leaders met in Canada to take stock of the global economic crisis. The meet itself was conducted in lavish style, raising concerns in a time of global economic uncertainty.
We had reasons to smile despite the year’s disasters, wars and skulduggery. Spirited sportspersons such as Saina Nehwal and Ashwini Akkunji earned laurels for our country against all odds. Let’s hope Indians will now cheer not just for cricketers, but for achievers in other sports too. Elsewhere in the world, Roger Federer won the Australian open, and while Spain won the World Cup, the crazy, noisy vuvuzelas stole the show.
In Myanmar, pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest. Prince William of the UK was engaged to Kate Middleton, making a picture-perfect couple. Brangelina made news by simply strutting their gorgeous selves. Lady Gaga walked away with awards at the British Phonographic Industry’s annual prize-giving ceremony. She grabbed the world’s attention by her avant-garde attire, particularly the fake meat dress to protest the slaughter of animals.
The media in its burgeoning forms assaulted our senses 24x7. Apart from zillions of electronic channels, print media, books, especially the print-on-demand and self-published variety, vied for our attention. The media, especially TV, turned the usual anna-saaru news of disasters into our daily fare. Did it matter to us whether the latest images were of bombings in Iraq, India or Uganda? How could we keep track and tell one from the other as we stared at flickering images of riots in Northern Ireland, or was it the Ivory Coast crisis? Around 90,000 people were forced to abandon their homes during fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising fears of a new civil war. We forgot the Haiti earthquake as we watched news reports of floods in China, violence in Karachi, or a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. We blithely watched all the troubles of the world without batting an eyelid, as we munched chips and gulped fizzy drinks. What really brought tears to our eyes was the shooting price of onions.
In this mad, bad, sad world of 2010, Facebook reigned supreme. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg was most appropriately named Time magazine’s person of the year for changing the way people connected and communicated. With over 500 million users worldwide, Facebook is a multi-billion dollar phenomenon reflecting our times. Redefining new age friendship, everyone from adolescents to 103-year-old grannies indulged in meaningful interactions such as tossing sheep and ‘pokes’. True to its free-for-all democratic nature, Facebook even includes a group whose members don’t care about your farm, your fish, your park or your mafia. About 6,374, 530 people became fans because they hate these stupid posts. Instead, they posted momentous stuff like notes on the politics of St Vincent and Grenadines, and advertised “financial management to make life secure and panic-free.” Amen!
