To many of us the year 2011 will be known as a year of turmoil, a year of halting governance or lack of governance. To many still the year will be a year of setbacks on economic and political front what with the kind of fall witnessed in rupee and market in a spin of an unknown proportion! For those associated with Anna and for those in the forefront of movement against corruption, the year 2011 will certainly appear to be hugely disappointing and perhaps cruel too. A movement launched for a good cause; a movement aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the toiling and grieving masses reeling under the scourge of corruption would like to remain energised so that there is no let-up in it. Political masters who should not be masters in the first place were at the receiving end of the public ire for having done nothing to contain corruption that had affected their life so very badly. In fact, most people in the street thought politicians, at least some of them, actively contributed to building the corpus of black money which if brought back into legitimate circulation could radically improve the quality of life on the ground.
To many the year 2011 will remind of Gloom and Doom. People lost money in the stock market. People had to cough up more money for buying their basic necessities. People received poor or no service from the corporate houses for which they had to pay through their noses. To top it all the year will be seen as complete failure of the government, its inept and bad handling of public concerns including midnight swoop on Baba Ramdev and arrest of a septuagenarian Anna in the unearthly hours of the day.
In short, the year 2011 can be put down as: "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." Although not all of what Dickens had said about the eighth decade of eighteenth century would apply to our own period, much of what was stated during the period of the French Revolution is applicable to our own times. That explains gloom and doom of 2011.
But 2011 has drawn to a close and we are on the threshold of a New Year which many of us believe would lead to a better tomorrow when the mist of despondency will clear with the rise of the sun in the horizon. It will, one hopes, not just fondly, that with this winter will go all that was shady and seedy and its place will emerge a spring that will bring joy to the millions who have been deprived of their right to happiness.
If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
To many the year 2011 will remind of Gloom and Doom. People lost money in the stock market. People had to cough up more money for buying their basic necessities. People received poor or no service from the corporate houses for which they had to pay through their noses. To top it all the year will be seen as complete failure of the government, its inept and bad handling of public concerns including midnight swoop on Baba Ramdev and arrest of a septuagenarian Anna in the unearthly hours of the day.
In short, the year 2011 can be put down as: "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." Although not all of what Dickens had said about the eighth decade of eighteenth century would apply to our own period, much of what was stated during the period of the French Revolution is applicable to our own times. That explains gloom and doom of 2011.
But 2011 has drawn to a close and we are on the threshold of a New Year which many of us believe would lead to a better tomorrow when the mist of despondency will clear with the rise of the sun in the horizon. It will, one hopes, not just fondly, that with this winter will go all that was shady and seedy and its place will emerge a spring that will bring joy to the millions who have been deprived of their right to happiness.
If winter comes, can spring be far behind?
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