2012 came. And is leaving. Looks like it all happened in a flash. What did I achieve during the year? Not many pleasing answers I can present!
The year began for me with a relaxing trip to Bangalore and Hosur. Trips to Chennai featured as usual, lots of joyful occasions and happy gatherings. But trips to Vizag and Tirupathi remained elusive. Looks like that is how it will be in the first half of 2013 too.
The year saw Nimal graduating from pre-primary to primary at school, and become a hard-core fan of Chota Bheem. He has also developed a liking for Horrid Henry, Roll No. 21, Oggy, Mighty Raju, and god knows what else!
2012 saw Pranab becoming President of India. Obama and Modi were voted back to power. Akilesh emerged the shrewdest among the young guns. Arvind Kejriwal established the Aam Aadmi Party. Mamta left UPA. And, Arnab Goswami was busy, as usual.
2012 also saw Ajmal Kasab’s sentence being carried out.
The year witnessed lots of protests. From those against corruption in the beginning of the year, to the ongoing ones seeking more stringent punishments for rapists. Anna, Arvind, BRD lead popular protests. Honestly though, I failed to relate with many of them.
India will not forget Nirbhaya. And the world will not forget Malala.
The year also saw some interesting events take place in India on the ‘social media’ front. Few arrests were made in relation to tweets and facebook status updates, leading to public outrage and wide scale discussions on Sec. 66A of IT Act. Events like arrest of a Pondicherry man for his tweets against Karti Chidambaram and arrest of two girls near Mumbai for a facebook status update in relation to Balasab’s funeral will hardly be forgotten soon.
But not everything changed in 2012. Uncertainty over Telangana, inflation, power cuts, meaningless debates on television – few things hardly changed.
The year saw Ratan Tata stepping down and handing over the reins to Cyrus Mistry. Kingfisher Airlines kept journeying from one crisis to another. Yet, surprisingly, it is still surviving.
Bal Thackeray, Rajesh Khanna, Pt. Ravi Shankar, Neil Armstrong, Mehdi Hassan, Vergherse ‘Amul’ Kurien, Whitney Houston, Tony Greig, Jaspal Bhatti, Yash Chopra, Joy Mukherjee, Dara Singh, AK Hangal…. The list of celebrities and inspiring personalities who departed in 2012 is staggering.
2012 was a year that every Indian cricket fan would like to forget. The drubbing at the hands of England was followed by a 0-4 loss to Australia, and then, more shamefully and painfully, a 1-2 home series defeat at the hands of England. Yes, England. The year saw Ponting, Dravid, and VVS retire from international cricket, and Hussey announcing his retirement.
2012 saw SRT making his 100th international 100. He also debuted in Parliament, and retired from ODIs. West Indies won the World T20, and in the IPL, DC became ‘Sun Risers’.
India’s best performance in Olympic Games was soon followed by IOA getting banned. IPL style Hockey League was launched. Saina came up with some good performances. And, Vishy Anand retained his World Champion title, winning it for the 5th time after beating Boris Gelfand.
Spain won Euro 2012, beating Italy in the finals. Amazing achievement by them – to win Euro 2008, WC 2010 and now, the Euro 2012. Lance Armstrong fell from grace. Men’s tennis saw 4 different grand slam winners in 2012. And, Andy Murray capped it with an Olympic Gold. On the women’s end, Serena won 2 Grand Slams and the Olympic Gold. Indians will be glad to remember that Mahesh and Sania won the French Open Mixed Doubles this year.
2012 saw Saifeena and Vidya Balan getting married. Many interesting movie releases this year. Some that I wanted to see (but failed to, as usual) were Paan Singh Tomar, Talaash, The Dark Knight Rises, and Life of Pi. Among the few that I saw, enjoyed English Vinglish. Needless to say, it was Sridevi who made the difference!
And, finally, if 2011 was about Kolaveri, 2012 was all about Gangnam. Interesting video, amazing steps. I, like many others, just loved it. Now, waiting for an Indian version of it in some movie!
2012 – an interesting year, that got over very quickly. A year that, even if it may not have brought much joy to many, didn’t particularly harm anyone close to me. And that surely is a blessing.
Well, those were just a few impressions that 2012 left on a mango man in a banana republic.
Theek Hai ?!!
VijVen 
Very interesting article written in a very engrossing manner! Keep it up, Vijay. Hope you continue to write more and devote more time to writing. Hope 2013 kindles your writing spirits to the acme!
Thanks, Mohan. Looking forward to reading a lot from you too. Hope 2013 gives you a bit of leisure to indulge in your passions.