The New Year is supposed to be a wonderful time, full of change and promise. It is that part of the year when we make resolutions and hope that they will actually be followed (at least until March). Even though nothing really changes between December 31 and January 1, it still feels as if this arbitrary marker in time has managed to wipe the slate clean. "This year" – most of us like to think on midnight, New Year's Eve – "is going to be good. "
Well, 2016 disagrees. Vehemently.
We're barely through the first two weeks of the new year and it seems already time to pack everything up and go home. 2016 is not going to cut it.
Sure there have been a few bright spots here and there. A 15-year-old scored more than 1,000 runs in one innings (although there were questions about whether that is a good thing). Delhi's odd-even experiment wasn't a massive mess (even though it's unclear whether it has reduced pollution at all). And the Friends cast could be coming together for that long-awaited much-denied reunion – except even that's not a sure thing.
Meanwhile, everything else is looking dire. If you thought 2015 began horribly, with news of a 'terror boat' being blown up off the coast of Gujarat, then 2016 found a way to take it to the next level.
A dire beginning
The year began with news of simultaneous attacks on Indians in Pathankot, at an airbase near the Pakistan border in Punjab, as well as at the Indian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan attack would wind up with three terrorists killed, but the Pathankot one would continue for another two days leaving seven Indians dead and massive questions about the safety of our defence establishments, let alone civilian areas. It would also imperil the India-Pakistan dialogue that had finally gathered some momentum. (If there is some consolation to be had, it is the fact that those talks have not yet been called off).
The weather didn't help things: The coldest part of the year ended up being lukewarm, threatening India's food security. And neither did Mother Nature, with an earthquake centred in Manipur killing eight and causing much damage.
And things only went downhill from there. Protesters ran riot in Malda, West Bengal, dozens of pilot whales began beaching themselves on the Tamil Nadu coast, and authorities decided to arrest a man because he dressed up like another man.
Don't even think about looking beyond India. Sure, it might be easy to collect bad news if you look hard enough for it, but even by the usual measure, the first two weeks of the year have been dire. (It's almost as if one of our contributors was right in his predictions for the year).
Frightening sexual attacks in Cologne, Germany caused a backlash on migrants. There were terrorist attacks in Baghdad. And Zliten, Libya. And Istanbul, Turkey. And Jakarta, Indonesia. North Korea detonated a thermonuclear bomb. US President Barack Obama, the guy who has spent his career being accused of lacking emotion, cried. And Saudi Arabia decided to execute 47 men, throwing fuel in the fire of a simmer Shia-Sunni conflict that now has the Arab League falling in line to take on Iran.
Oh, and David Bowie died. Is there really any reason we should keep going with 2016?
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