An end and a start

A year moves the fastest. Just yesterday, we may have been making resolute promises to face 2022 and lo and behold! The same choice faces us today as we stand at the threshold of yet another brand-new set of 365 days. Year-ends are the time for nostalgia; of looking back at what one lost and found, the achievements that made us stand tall, the failures that made us stoop ever so slightly. Of all of them, I think it's the losses faced in the previous year that haunt our thoughts the most.

2022 was a bittersweet year for mankind if we compare it to the Covid-19-induced devastation of 2021. The year started with the painful burden of bouncing back to life even while coping with the pain of premature demises. 2021 donated us the strength to 'resume life' in 2022. But that too was not devoid of challenges. As war raged between the two nations of Russia and Ukraine causing thousands of deaths, India and the world felt its deep reverberations. Global economies floundered and lost track of their topmost priority of regaining economic growth, having been compelled to deal with an unnecessary, unwarranted, and untimely war. Startups unhappily welcomed an unseasonal funding winter, corporates and new companies laid off ruthlessly; the felled employees still struggling for a foothold. The British lost their longest-serving monarch and an Indian-origin Brit became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. India's neighbours, Sri Lanka and Pakistan faced political upheavals. Iran stamped on the rights of anti-hijab women protestors, the US Supreme Court robbed American women of their right to abortion, and Lionel Messi finally won the FIFA World Cup. And boy! Did the environment suffer this year? Extreme temperatures, incessant heat waves, devastating floods and droughts — climate change wreaked havoc on Earth and her people.

A lot happened in 2022; several historic events for a world that was still reeling from the shock of two years of the pandemic. However, despite what the past holds, it also carries with it the finality and relief of being over. Like so with a new year — it's a time to look ahead with hope and resilience and focus on the positives. The developing world has finally agreed to pay for the environmental damages caused by its brutal development; compensation for the overheating of the climate that is destroying poor nations. It's also the time for preparedness and action against yet another new Covid threat. The times are changing for work culture too as hybrid offices and flexible work cultures gain a stronger foothold. New technologies and innovations continue to enter the market, equally improving and impairing lives beyond recognition.

Let this new year also be the one where we prioritise humaneness over greed, compassion over pettiness, and generosity over selfishness. This world needs kindness more than ever, and that as I always say, starts with each individual. It's also the time for courage — the courage to say no, to stand your ground, overcome the ghosts of the past, or simply protest wrongdoings. This new year, our resolution, and hopefully the one that we will keep, should be to listen — listen to our bodies, pay attention to the needs of those around us, and expand our circle of support to accommodate the vulnerable. Be patient — with ourselves, our careers, and the world at large. And optimistic — that even though a lot may have gone wrong, we still retain the power to affect change in our personal lives and in society at large. A new year is a time for exuberance and determination — to achieve those long-pending goals. So much has been done, and yet so much remains. What's your New Year's resolution?

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal