<p>As 2024 winds close and I type these lines, a certain ennui lays siege to my spirit. An odd occurrence. Friends tell me that I am one of those incorrigible optimists who by default looks for and often spots the silver lining in every hovering dark cloud. But this year, humankind has worn me down with its obduracy and absolute self-centredness. Is it therefore even possible to clear away the cobwebs from my addled brain and attempt to regain something of a cheery optimism? Am trying!</p>.<p><strong>First the bad news.</strong></p>.<p>The Gaza situation has over this year worsened to the extent that it has paralysed anyone with a modicum of a conscience. The extent of the atrocities, the relentlessness with which the Israeli military has indulged in unfettered massacres matched only by the denial of any wrongdoing by the Zionist-funded PR machinery in the US and elsewhere is truly mind-boggling. A full nine decades after the Holocaust began in Nazi Germany, it is astounding to see descendants of the victims turn into unabashed perpetrators.</p>.<p>The Ukraine-Russia conflict too drags on and on. Clearly, this is now in the same league as Vietnam and Afghanistan — conflagrations without an end or a clear victor. Vladimir Putin is unwilling to let anything, not even many thousands of dead bodies, take away the sheen from his strongman image. And the fact that another strongman, Trump, is back with a bang on the opposite end of the world can only strengthen his hands.</p>.<p>The convicted felon, Trump’s return to the US presidency, is largely bad news for the world. He has denied climate change, normalised a brash, disrespectful brand of ‘bad-boy’ politics and given decency and political correctness the short shrift. The new year promises much more of this. Brace yourselves!</p>.<p>Meanwhile, in more reassuring news, Syria went through earthshaking changes in December. Bashar al-Assad fled into the arms of a welcoming Putin, who has likely settled him in a warm dacha. But who are the new leaders? How are they going to take a crippled Syria forward? Little is known. One must be circumspect and not rejoice too much, therefore. For the moment, mild applause, a smile and a positive nod of the head will do.</p>.<p>Rather like how one must react to the continuing march of the AI juggernaut. That the AI phenomenon has entered our lives comprehensively is undeniable. Businesses and individuals have taken to it, unabashedly. Leaner and meaner processes, efficient and customised tools, and yes, speaking as a Grammar Nazi, grammatically correct e-mails, have been some of the positive outcomes. On the flip side, there is the danger of misuse by malicious actors and AI’s proclivity to be wildly inventive with ‘facts’ that appear to be true but are completely false.</p>.<p>So, is there nothing that one can feel unabashedly good about?</p>.<p>Oh yes, there is. And it has to do with a ‘sport’ that involves sombre-looking young and old people crouched over a board with 64 black and white squares. Long predicted, Indian chess truly came of age this year. Early in the year, three Indians — D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi— were among the eight who qualified in the Candidates tournament, held to determine who could go on to challenge the World Champion, Ding Liren. Two women — Koneru Humpy and Vaishali Rameshbabu — too were in the eight-women field.</p>.<p>Gukesh prevailed in the Candidates tournament and won the right to challenge Ding. A few weeks ago, he prevailed over him to become the World Champion. Not only that, at the Chess Olympiad some months earlier, both the men's and women’s teams had struck gold underscoring the extent of Indian dominance. More to follow. Watch this space.</p>.<p>Speaking of sport, some other heartwarming stories came to the fore in the Olympics. The sight of the Turkish shooter, Yusuf Dikec, sauntering into the arena clad in a white tee and with no fancy equipment and shooting his way to silver was a moment. KISS, his attitude read—Keep It Simple, Stupid! Manu Bhaker’s two bronzes were yet another. Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, prancing in his gear after the Indian hockey team clinched a bronze, was also a magnificent sight to behold.</p>.<p>And then there was the business of Neeraj Chopra and his mother. After witnessing Neeraj being pushed to second place in the javelin throw by Pakistani, Arshad Nadeem, Saroj Devi refused to appear dejected. Instead, she chose to call Arshad ‘my child’ and celebrated his victory along with her son’s. Surely, a very high moment for sport and motherhood, nay humankind!</p>.<p>As for cricket, the sport that sets Indian pulses racing, why bother saying anything! Everyone is an expert, and they have all pretty much said everything there is to be said. The Indian team won and lost. ‘Legends’ rose and fell. Nothing significant happened besides the dubious circumstances in which R Ashwin retired and India won the T20 World Cup. Might as well talk about what really matters!!</p>.<p>As a parting shot, there is something I ardently wish for in 2025. It is for true wisdom to dawn on old men, yes, men! Women, a few ‘simple’-tons aside, have got it all figured out. If in doubt, refer to the Chopra-Nadeem instance referred to earlier. And think Payal Kapadia. That should be quite enough.</p>.<p>Wisdom, the savants tell us, is to understand the power of silence. And my ardent wish for 2025 is for some to understand that.</p>.<p>When a certain highly accomplished older cricketer wishes to pillory a younger member of his sporting tribe for a mistake, even many mistakes, I wish he would check himself, think about his own wayward younger days, smile indulgently and refrain.</p>.<p>Equally, when another distinguished gentleman wishes to hold up his workaholic life journey as a source of inspiration and aspiration, I wish he would have the sense to fathom the eternal truth of this phrase —‘different strokes for different folks’.</p>.<p>May 2025 be kind to us all, young and old.</p>.<p>And in other news...</p>.<p>Stumped!</p>.<p>It wasn’t a good year for the global Indian leader as such. The first wicket to fall was Rishi Sunak of the UK in July who made way for Keir Starmer, and in November, Kamala Harris had to endure the ignominy of losing to Trump. Those of us who saw India’s 'Vishwaguru' phase dawning in these two leaders are advised to return to the drawing scroll.</p>.<p><strong>Off the high horse</strong></p>.<p>In our neighbourhood, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh fled the country as nationwide protests forced her off her high horse. Nobel Prize winner Mohammad Yunus took over. Even as this played out, Indian internet trolls took to their keyboards typing furiously, ‘Hindu khatre mein hain … in Bangladesh!’ time and again. Some of the government’s questionable actions, including the arrest of an ISKCON leader, only fuelled the fire.</p>.<p>In murky waters, as always</p>.<p>2024 also witnessed the return of coalition politics to the Indian central government. After a decade-long unfettered run, the BJP now has to contend with two mercurial partners, who could potentially destabilise them at the drop of an angavastram or a gamcha. How is this going to pan out?</p>.<p>As for Karnataka, the ‘CD’ brand of hidden camera politics which has ensnared many politicians in the past few years, claimed its biggest victims this year. H D Revanna and his son, Prajwal, were the latest and arguably, the biggest ever. This murky affair has not run its course yet.</p>.<p><strong>In a different orbit, are we?</strong></p>.<p>The literati maintain that literature typically predates society in its wokeness and awareness. Seen in that light, the fact that Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, which won the Booker Prize this year, is set in a space station is worth paying attention to. Is life on our planet doomed is perhaps the question we should ask ourselves as a species.</p>.<p>On a lighter note, in the world of books is the case of Taylor Swift and her self-published work. The book sold a lot of copies, sure, but the embarrassing typos and layout issues that came to the fore definitely undermined the choice to self-publish. Is it kosher to say ‘stick to your knitting’ without being accused of sexism and snobbery? (Confession: I work in mainstream publishing.)</p>.<p><strong>A vacuum of imagination</strong></p>.<p>Is there anything to be said for the Indian film industry? The commercial brand of cinema was dominated by releases like Pushpa 2, Kalki 2898 AD and others of their ilk, none of which moved the creative needle even a shade. Re-releases of old favourites like DDLJ and HAHK, among others, did seem to indicate a certain vacuum of the imagination at the heart of Bollywood.</p>.<p>But the year’s most heartwarming story was the thrilling success of All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia. Feted at Cannes and hailed by Sight and Sound magazine, this lyrical masterpiece was inexplicably snubbed for the Oscars with India choosing to send the caste-blind, wallowing in pedestrian mediocrity Laapata Ladies instead. Perhaps, Kapadia’s background of having been part of the FTII strike against Gajendra Chauhan in 2015 had something to do with it. Anyway, the anda/motte on the face of officialdom is there for all of us to see.</p>.<p><strong>Musk megaphone</strong></p>.<p>Crony capitalism now has a new world standard bearer in the persona of Elon Musk. He spent $250 million getting Trump elected, unabashedly playing cheerleader throughout the campaign. He is undoubtedly going to play a very serious role in the Trump administration and with his megaphone, the social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), he seems poised to influence policy, and decisions both, likely resulting in earthshaking, and potentially dangerous, consequences for the world.</p>.<p><strong>Ooru blues</strong></p>.<p>As internet trends go, this year saw #PeakBengaluru, well, peak! Several instances captioned thus on social media went viral — from a scooterist taking a video call on his laptop at a traffic junction to an auto driver flashing his smartwatch with a QR code for payment.</p>.<p>And whew, the (nearly) year-long bash</p>.<p>The runaway winner for ‘Spectacle of the Year’ was the Ambani wedding — Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s son Anant with Radhika, daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant. The circus began in March — ‘pre-wedding’, they called it. The ostentatiousness left the world gasping. The tamasha had only just begun. The big bash was in July 2024. Everyone from Shah Rukh to Bachchan attended, not to mention the likes of Tony Blair and Boris Johnson and there were performances by Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Rihanna et al. For months thereafter, Instagram reels of the spectacle kept the affair in everyone’s mindspace.</p>.<p>The average Mumbaikar watched the state supplicate, but couldn’t spend too much time thinking about it. He had to negotiate his potholed road to the station to catch the packed-to-the-rafters local to Churchgate, after all.</p>.<p><em>The author is an editor with a publishing firm and a writer in his spare time.</em> </p>
<p>As 2024 winds close and I type these lines, a certain ennui lays siege to my spirit. An odd occurrence. Friends tell me that I am one of those incorrigible optimists who by default looks for and often spots the silver lining in every hovering dark cloud. But this year, humankind has worn me down with its obduracy and absolute self-centredness. Is it therefore even possible to clear away the cobwebs from my addled brain and attempt to regain something of a cheery optimism? Am trying!</p>.<p><strong>First the bad news.</strong></p>.<p>The Gaza situation has over this year worsened to the extent that it has paralysed anyone with a modicum of a conscience. The extent of the atrocities, the relentlessness with which the Israeli military has indulged in unfettered massacres matched only by the denial of any wrongdoing by the Zionist-funded PR machinery in the US and elsewhere is truly mind-boggling. A full nine decades after the Holocaust began in Nazi Germany, it is astounding to see descendants of the victims turn into unabashed perpetrators.</p>.<p>The Ukraine-Russia conflict too drags on and on. Clearly, this is now in the same league as Vietnam and Afghanistan — conflagrations without an end or a clear victor. Vladimir Putin is unwilling to let anything, not even many thousands of dead bodies, take away the sheen from his strongman image. And the fact that another strongman, Trump, is back with a bang on the opposite end of the world can only strengthen his hands.</p>.<p>The convicted felon, Trump’s return to the US presidency, is largely bad news for the world. He has denied climate change, normalised a brash, disrespectful brand of ‘bad-boy’ politics and given decency and political correctness the short shrift. The new year promises much more of this. Brace yourselves!</p>.<p>Meanwhile, in more reassuring news, Syria went through earthshaking changes in December. Bashar al-Assad fled into the arms of a welcoming Putin, who has likely settled him in a warm dacha. But who are the new leaders? How are they going to take a crippled Syria forward? Little is known. One must be circumspect and not rejoice too much, therefore. For the moment, mild applause, a smile and a positive nod of the head will do.</p>.<p>Rather like how one must react to the continuing march of the AI juggernaut. That the AI phenomenon has entered our lives comprehensively is undeniable. Businesses and individuals have taken to it, unabashedly. Leaner and meaner processes, efficient and customised tools, and yes, speaking as a Grammar Nazi, grammatically correct e-mails, have been some of the positive outcomes. On the flip side, there is the danger of misuse by malicious actors and AI’s proclivity to be wildly inventive with ‘facts’ that appear to be true but are completely false.</p>.<p>So, is there nothing that one can feel unabashedly good about?</p>.<p>Oh yes, there is. And it has to do with a ‘sport’ that involves sombre-looking young and old people crouched over a board with 64 black and white squares. Long predicted, Indian chess truly came of age this year. Early in the year, three Indians — D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi— were among the eight who qualified in the Candidates tournament, held to determine who could go on to challenge the World Champion, Ding Liren. Two women — Koneru Humpy and Vaishali Rameshbabu — too were in the eight-women field.</p>.<p>Gukesh prevailed in the Candidates tournament and won the right to challenge Ding. A few weeks ago, he prevailed over him to become the World Champion. Not only that, at the Chess Olympiad some months earlier, both the men's and women’s teams had struck gold underscoring the extent of Indian dominance. More to follow. Watch this space.</p>.<p>Speaking of sport, some other heartwarming stories came to the fore in the Olympics. The sight of the Turkish shooter, Yusuf Dikec, sauntering into the arena clad in a white tee and with no fancy equipment and shooting his way to silver was a moment. KISS, his attitude read—Keep It Simple, Stupid! Manu Bhaker’s two bronzes were yet another. Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, prancing in his gear after the Indian hockey team clinched a bronze, was also a magnificent sight to behold.</p>.<p>And then there was the business of Neeraj Chopra and his mother. After witnessing Neeraj being pushed to second place in the javelin throw by Pakistani, Arshad Nadeem, Saroj Devi refused to appear dejected. Instead, she chose to call Arshad ‘my child’ and celebrated his victory along with her son’s. Surely, a very high moment for sport and motherhood, nay humankind!</p>.<p>As for cricket, the sport that sets Indian pulses racing, why bother saying anything! Everyone is an expert, and they have all pretty much said everything there is to be said. The Indian team won and lost. ‘Legends’ rose and fell. Nothing significant happened besides the dubious circumstances in which R Ashwin retired and India won the T20 World Cup. Might as well talk about what really matters!!</p>.<p>As a parting shot, there is something I ardently wish for in 2025. It is for true wisdom to dawn on old men, yes, men! Women, a few ‘simple’-tons aside, have got it all figured out. If in doubt, refer to the Chopra-Nadeem instance referred to earlier. And think Payal Kapadia. That should be quite enough.</p>.<p>Wisdom, the savants tell us, is to understand the power of silence. And my ardent wish for 2025 is for some to understand that.</p>.<p>When a certain highly accomplished older cricketer wishes to pillory a younger member of his sporting tribe for a mistake, even many mistakes, I wish he would check himself, think about his own wayward younger days, smile indulgently and refrain.</p>.<p>Equally, when another distinguished gentleman wishes to hold up his workaholic life journey as a source of inspiration and aspiration, I wish he would have the sense to fathom the eternal truth of this phrase —‘different strokes for different folks’.</p>.<p>May 2025 be kind to us all, young and old.</p>.<p>And in other news...</p>.<p>Stumped!</p>.<p>It wasn’t a good year for the global Indian leader as such. The first wicket to fall was Rishi Sunak of the UK in July who made way for Keir Starmer, and in November, Kamala Harris had to endure the ignominy of losing to Trump. Those of us who saw India’s 'Vishwaguru' phase dawning in these two leaders are advised to return to the drawing scroll.</p>.<p><strong>Off the high horse</strong></p>.<p>In our neighbourhood, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh fled the country as nationwide protests forced her off her high horse. Nobel Prize winner Mohammad Yunus took over. Even as this played out, Indian internet trolls took to their keyboards typing furiously, ‘Hindu khatre mein hain … in Bangladesh!’ time and again. Some of the government’s questionable actions, including the arrest of an ISKCON leader, only fuelled the fire.</p>.<p>In murky waters, as always</p>.<p>2024 also witnessed the return of coalition politics to the Indian central government. After a decade-long unfettered run, the BJP now has to contend with two mercurial partners, who could potentially destabilise them at the drop of an angavastram or a gamcha. How is this going to pan out?</p>.<p>As for Karnataka, the ‘CD’ brand of hidden camera politics which has ensnared many politicians in the past few years, claimed its biggest victims this year. H D Revanna and his son, Prajwal, were the latest and arguably, the biggest ever. This murky affair has not run its course yet.</p>.<p><strong>In a different orbit, are we?</strong></p>.<p>The literati maintain that literature typically predates society in its wokeness and awareness. Seen in that light, the fact that Samantha Harvey’s Orbital, which won the Booker Prize this year, is set in a space station is worth paying attention to. Is life on our planet doomed is perhaps the question we should ask ourselves as a species.</p>.<p>On a lighter note, in the world of books is the case of Taylor Swift and her self-published work. The book sold a lot of copies, sure, but the embarrassing typos and layout issues that came to the fore definitely undermined the choice to self-publish. Is it kosher to say ‘stick to your knitting’ without being accused of sexism and snobbery? (Confession: I work in mainstream publishing.)</p>.<p><strong>A vacuum of imagination</strong></p>.<p>Is there anything to be said for the Indian film industry? The commercial brand of cinema was dominated by releases like Pushpa 2, Kalki 2898 AD and others of their ilk, none of which moved the creative needle even a shade. Re-releases of old favourites like DDLJ and HAHK, among others, did seem to indicate a certain vacuum of the imagination at the heart of Bollywood.</p>.<p>But the year’s most heartwarming story was the thrilling success of All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia. Feted at Cannes and hailed by Sight and Sound magazine, this lyrical masterpiece was inexplicably snubbed for the Oscars with India choosing to send the caste-blind, wallowing in pedestrian mediocrity Laapata Ladies instead. Perhaps, Kapadia’s background of having been part of the FTII strike against Gajendra Chauhan in 2015 had something to do with it. Anyway, the anda/motte on the face of officialdom is there for all of us to see.</p>.<p><strong>Musk megaphone</strong></p>.<p>Crony capitalism now has a new world standard bearer in the persona of Elon Musk. He spent $250 million getting Trump elected, unabashedly playing cheerleader throughout the campaign. He is undoubtedly going to play a very serious role in the Trump administration and with his megaphone, the social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), he seems poised to influence policy, and decisions both, likely resulting in earthshaking, and potentially dangerous, consequences for the world.</p>.<p><strong>Ooru blues</strong></p>.<p>As internet trends go, this year saw #PeakBengaluru, well, peak! Several instances captioned thus on social media went viral — from a scooterist taking a video call on his laptop at a traffic junction to an auto driver flashing his smartwatch with a QR code for payment.</p>.<p>And whew, the (nearly) year-long bash</p>.<p>The runaway winner for ‘Spectacle of the Year’ was the Ambani wedding — Mukesh and Nita Ambani’s son Anant with Radhika, daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant. The circus began in March — ‘pre-wedding’, they called it. The ostentatiousness left the world gasping. The tamasha had only just begun. The big bash was in July 2024. Everyone from Shah Rukh to Bachchan attended, not to mention the likes of Tony Blair and Boris Johnson and there were performances by Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Rihanna et al. For months thereafter, Instagram reels of the spectacle kept the affair in everyone’s mindspace.</p>.<p>The average Mumbaikar watched the state supplicate, but couldn’t spend too much time thinking about it. He had to negotiate his potholed road to the station to catch the packed-to-the-rafters local to Churchgate, after all.</p>.<p><em>The author is an editor with a publishing firm and a writer in his spare time.</em> </p>
