It's that time of the year again. When yearly round-ups are done diligently. Lists made, everyone sits down and assesses hits and misses. You tick off the "achieved goals" from your list. Make resolutions to fulfil the ones not yet surmounted.
But I am doing something different. I am taking stock of my setbacks, my disappointments, the let-downs this year. I have absolutely zero expectations from the next year.
Why?
Because its useless to expect anything that I can't control. And since any chance of better days seems very unlikely, I am collecting the bits of my sanity to somehow trudge along the rest of my time on this planet.
Why am I being such a kill-joy, you may ask? Well, not out of choice, certainly.
What the world and my country, the air I breathe, the people I mix with, have become, all contribute to my rock-bottom expectations.
1. I am terrified, scared of what my country and its people have become. This wasn't the country I grew up in. It seems as if lid has been opened and poison is spewing all around. Everyone - educated, privileged, socially aware, woke, are speaking a strange language of hatred, of suspicion, of belligerence. Where is our India that embraced everyone and made them its own? An India the world looked up to?
2. Our planet is burning down, oceans choking on plastic, mighty mountains torn down to make away for human greed. The air we breathe is no longer oxygen, its a cocktail of toxins. And while the moneyed have a choice of escaping to Mars or wherever in the universe, we will be left to clear the mess.
3. Its become so uncool to be simple, to not put yourself "out there", to be a private person, to enjoy one's own company. Because if you aren't living it up, are you even living? All your activities need an Instagram approval - whether it is reading, music, watching something. If it isn't Insta-approved, is it even worthy of being watched or read? Influencers control our headspace, they are the new mafia.
4. We care more about world problems than the fire in our own backyard. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal all concern us, but not India. And our own country is sliding down in a freefall in all the indices.
5. Young denizens fight for inclusivity, equity, justice, anti-Semitism, anti-racialism, animal rights. Ask them to help feed their grandma, throw the trash, buy groceries, or cook a meal, and all this wokeism flies out of the window.
6. Poverty, hunger and caste discrimination are nobody's babies. These exist only for inciting violence and killing a few people, denying people dignity and robbing people of their right to a decent life. They have disappeared from election manifestos, from discussion tables. Yet, the poor in their aspiration to live a better life, beg, borrow or steal, and typically languish years in jail.
Where's a Santa who will bring a antidote to these problems? Who will come with a bagful of smiles, equal rights, plenty of opportunities, the individual rights to differ, to voice opinions, to question authority? Who will bring justice and peace for everyone, not only a select few?
Until that happens, year after year remains the same. So, No Happy New Year for me.
#NewYearDrama #NoHopesForBetterDays #NoHappyNewYear
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