Of hopes and despair

Time, if seen in continuity, is among the most difficult phenomena to comprehend. Humans have broken it into fragments to at least track, if not comprehend, the deep enigma called time. The year that passed by, 2022, was a year of transition — from the pandemic to normalcy, from lockdowns to buzzing economic activities. When it arrived, it was loaded with hope and apprehension. And as it ended, it saw some of the hopes being materialised while others were shattered. On the economic front, India had a mixed bag of outcomes in 2022. Just in the second month of the year when things had started getting better, the Russian invasion of Ukraine took the global economy to a nadir. Amid global economic headwinds, its growth trajectory, though affected, had still been better than many other economies, including the developed ones. As inflation emerged as a global threat, India's firm growth trend provided the much-needed leeway to its central bank to tinker with policy rates to tame inflation. Throughout 2022, the Reserve Bank of India increased the repo rate by 225 basis points in instalments — taking it from 4 per cent to 6.25 per cent. Now, the inflation problem has been passed on to the year 2023 — with both the ideal mark of 4 per cent and a tolerable mark of 6 per cent remaining elusive. Inflation, of course, was not the sole worry for the Indian economy. As reported by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) on December 1, India's unemployment rate increased to a three-month high of 8 per cent during November — 8.96 per cent in urban areas and 7.55 per cent in rural areas. Going forward in 2023, the unemployment problem has only worsened. The Labour Force Participation Rate, too, didn't show any encouraging signs, meaning that a large chunk of the unemployed population has given up looking for jobs. On account of geopolitical pressures resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war, INR weakened, foreign reserves dwindled and foreign investors, for a large part of the year, withdrew from Indian markets, largely due to regular Fed rate hikes. The biggest setback for India, however, came on the export and manufacturing front. If it were to be summed up in a few words, the year 2023 has inherited an economy in bad shape. If something underwent clear deterioration in 2023, it was the socio-political standing of the nation. Throughout the year, intolerance brought immense shame to Indian society and polity. Starting from January last year, there was a series of 'dharma sansad' which made such hateful, violent and bigoted remarks that don't suit a functioning democracy like India. What the Muslim students in Udupi would prefer to wear (hijab) became a prolonged national debate and even a legal battle. Earlier in the year, the SDMC mayor took it upon himself to dictate what people from a particular community should/shouldn't eat during Navratri. The nation saw the ruthless butchering of Kanhaiya Lal. But it was destined to see even worse, and so came the manslaughter of Shraddha Walker. On the eve of its independence, India saw one of its children — a nine-year-old Dalit boy — beaten to death for touching a water pot meant for his upper-class teacher. Furthermore, it should not come as a shock if Indian women see the year 2022 as a horrible period. Even as the number and nature of crimes against women are getting worse, the nation saw not just the release of Bilkis Bano's rapists, but also their garlanding and revered welcome — for what achievement, nobody knows! Intolerance was at increase in the culture and information industry as well. A prominent act checker witnessed a legal onslaught on frivolous grounds, and we know, this case was not an exception. Political masters are having trouble bearing 'uncomfortable' expressions made in stand-up comedies, satires, films, songs, music and whatnot. The year 2022 was crucial in terms of politics as well — both electoral and otherwise. The initial and concluding months of 2022 saw several states going to polls — with outcomes largely mixed. As we have entered the year penultimate to the next general elections, no party seems to have a clear momentum. Rival political parties locked horns on almost every issue under the sun — hijab row, Gyanvapi controversy, project cheetah, electoral bonds, EWS quota, Morbi disaster and whatnot. However, in terms of polity, at the top of everything, 2022 will be remembered for eternity for giving us our first Adivasi woman president. As tech is the buzzword of the day, India, in 2022, had both glimpses of possibilities and vulnerabilities in this sector. We saw the rollout of 5G which will transform our lives forever in the years to come. We saw our central bank showing resolve to roll out its digital currency. We saw the might of technology as it brought down the Noida Twin towers in the blink of an eye. At the same time, India failed to find an answer to the Pegasus conundrum that it had inherited in 2021. The country saw its largest public medical facility — AIIMS — tumble down under a ransomware attack. But more crucially, the baton of formulating a framework for personal data protection has been passed on to 2023. If there was anything that brought in a lot of excitement, hope, courage and optimism, it was sports. A world still in the grip of the deadly pandemic and fallouts of the war in Ukraine, found solace in sports. Indian men's cricket started 2022 on a turbulent note as Virat Kohli quit captaincy in all formats of the game. The team stumbled, got back on its feet, fought and stumbled again in a range of bilateral and multilateral tournaments. Virat Kohli played an unforgettable inning against Pakistan in a T20 World Cup game. The Indian women's cricket team, too, fought brilliantly in the World Cup — giving a fitting farewell to the geniuses of Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami. The biggest star of 2022, however, was Javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra. We saw history being created in the Thomas Cup as India won its first-ever title. India's performance at the Commonwealth Games was also phenomenal. As a digression from sports, do not forget that 2022 gave us our first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The year 2022 took away from us legends like Pt. Birju Maharaj, Lata Mangeshkar, KK, Bappi Lahiri, Pele and many others. 2023 has inherited a mix of good and bad from 2022. We must learn from our mistakes and get inspired by our achievements to be in a better place a year from now.