Monday, January 01, 2007

The bright year 2006

2 yrs 2 months and 20 days.... No thats not the age of a random toddler I am referring to, nor is it the number of days left for the apocalypse to come, nor is it the work experience one quotes in his rather boastful CV.. its just the period of slumber that this blog has been through!!

Now, what really got me blogging again?! Wouldnt prefer to call it the New Year Resolution syndrome, because as records show, the resolutions are never kept.. hence if I do blog out of a NYR, it would be plain paradox. Its nothing really, just that the fingers felt like caressing the keyboards, translating the rather random thoughts that pulsate in this throbbing lemon of mine (which happens to be a reference of the head, as in one of Wodehouse's quotes "The old lemon started throbbing fiercely!").

So then, Wish all you folks a very Happy New Year. Now, that is the most ironic of all greetings/wishes. Year after year, we all have been hoping that the New Year will usher in a much more sensible world, bringing with it loads of wisdom for our country's politicians who are desparately in need of it, fill hearts with humanity which is now found more in the quadrupeds than the bipeds, a year to turn a new leaf and all that! All these years, I have been quite skeptical of how hypocritical the New Year's Day was solely because it never brought in any change in the world. The dacoticians (a term for our politicians with strong attitudinal traits like dacoits) remained the dacoticians, the murderers remained the murderers, the cricketers continued to be murdered, the bull at the exchanges remained a load of bull, the Asiads remained a quadrennial humiliation ceremony very close to our hearts, the Indian Hockey team cut more grass than they hit the ball, the employment exchange had nothing to exchange, the Kerala ping pong between the Left and Congress continues every five years and a long list thereafter!

But............ this year surely does bring with it a real ray of light. Although not much of the above list is going to change, the year bygone has been a very heartening one. Lets take a look at some of the heartening moments which are any indications of things to come:

1. Sanity prevails in the Indian judiciary.. finally!!! Though a renowned figure of the same class lost the sanity for a brief period, but the verdict was worth it. The much awaited and long fight for Jessica Lal finally came to an end with what the citizens of India have been screaming for..... Justice. The country has finally awaken and realised its power in the people. Hats off to the biggest victory for humanity in the country in 06. Isnt it great that the country is now vociferously fighting for justice? Will this bring in some more sanity the next time you trudge towards the ballot box? It should! This would just pave the path for the Mattoo case and of course the Manjunath case too.

2. The Left, after a long time, in Bengal, won the urban elections too!! If Consumer Confidence Index is any indication of the Bengal elections, well, the very people who have been criticising the Left for anti development attitude, have realised that the pit cant be any deeper for the state and its only the current leadership that can bring about the positive change in the state! Though I am not too much of a leftist (one might strongly argue because I am a Mallu born and brought up in Bengal), hats off to the Laughing Buddha!!

3. The Indian selectors have slowly started spelling the words m-e-r-i-t and p-e-r-f-o-r-m-a-n-c-e. If the dropping of Sourav, his reselection, sending back of Irfan Pathan, all these are any indications of things to come, the day is not far when we shall see the Nawab of Najafgarh wielding a lath in the lush fields of Haryana rather than a bat on the cricket field. But he does a good job with the bat I must say. Every single match he played, he edged the ball so well and sharp that he ensured that the shine from the ball went off! He's not to blame if others didnt perform, he was doing it for them!! Pah! Well done, Colonel Vengsarkar!


4. The bull finally rose! And boy, did it rise!! It just skyrocketed crashing all records.. 11k, 12k, 13k and even 14k!! The bull which was whining is now shining with Investor confidence increasing in the nation. Of course, as typical Indians, there are the cynics who missed the bus and say, "Ah, just wait, this is another Harshad Mehta kind of episode". Sad to say, Legionary Perennius Pessimistus, the economy is booming and this is no harsh ad!

5. Greg Chappel was posing for an ad for Handiplast after one of the matches in Kolkata, but the media interpreted it as something very obscene and rude! Ah, this media I say, poor chappie was only nursing an injured finger!

6. Mamata Banerjee was advised by her doctor to control her diet because of some gastro problem. Now how could she avoid Teler Bhaja, Maccher Jhol and the phuchkas?! She needed motivation to go on hunger strike and sure enough found it when she wanted the Buddha to say Tata to the Tatas! The Budhha was aware of the lady's gastro ailment and cooperated with her hunger strike. Someone please tell me, after 25 days of hunger strike, is it really really humanly possible to be in ones senses, speak to the media on the microphone, address people in public meetings??!!! She must be a superpower, but for that she has to first learn to spell s-u-p-e-r!!

7. The Nuke apartheid finally came to an end and in India's favour! Dont have expertise in this field, honestly, hence not writing much here!

8. Uncle Sam is finally here in India!!! The much awaited entry of Walmart is finally destined to happen in 07... and of course Mr. Ambani has found a strong competitor in Mr. Mittal. More jobs coming up, higher pays, better returns for farmers, the economy is just not looking back!!!

9. Finally, yes, FINALLY...... India has its very own Super Hero in Hrithik Roshan after his popular stunts in Krrishh and Dhoom 2... the Indian Superman is finally here.. the only problem with him is that he looks a bit gayish... (pardon me HR fans, but just voicing my thoughts).

10. I finally learnt to speak fluently in Malayalam after being posted here for almost a year now!

So thats what 2006 was like.... sure enough quite a few disappointing moments, but most of it, yes, I must say, for a change, looking towards the positive side. Of course, we as Indians, choose to be optimistic when we like to. Jan 1st we are optimistic, but then, the very next day, we turn out to be the devils advocate for everything. What is, however, heartening, is that the proportion of optimists is on the rise and this is good for all of us.
Thats all for now, junta.... this blog is alive again!
Cheerio.. I need to now eat Phuchkas.. Have a blast of 2007!

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