In 2024, India balanced progressive legislative and judicial advancements with political and social challenges. Notable protests and movements took center stage, addressing climate change and other critical issues. The year has been both challenging and hopeful, setting the tone for 2025.
By Mohan Kanda
- In January, PM Modi performed the ‘Prana Pratishtha’ ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, while Rahul Gandhi began his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ from Imphal on the same day
- In May, a major controversy shook the country over the issue of anomalous results and alleged leakage of question papers during the conduct of the NEET
- In September, a shocking revelation emerged: laboratory tests found beef and other animal fats in the Laddus offered at the Tirupati Balaji Temple. This sparked nationwide controversy
- In 2024, Nihal Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advocating a nuclear-weapon-free world and highlighting the catastrophic impacts of nuclear weapons through survivor testimonies
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
– Stanza from ‘In Memoriam’ – Alfred Tennyson
The beginning of a new year is more than just the turning of a page. It is the time for everyone to take stock of their lives and make a fresh start. Around the world, the beginning of a new year symbolises a sense of hope, encouraging people to set goals and seize new opportunities.
Although the spirit that informed Tennyson’s stanza is universal, different faiths across the world and the various states in India celebrate the arrival of the New Year on different days.
Now let us look at a snapshot of the highlights of the year 2024, both in India and abroad. First things first. 2024, incidentally, was the sum of 11 consecutive non-negative integers, namely, 179 to 189 !
The first half of 2024 was a dynamic period for India, marked by a series of significant events that shaped its socio-political and cultural landscape. From the sacred ceremony of Prana Pratishtha at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya to transformative political alliances and legislative milestones, the nation witnessed historic developments.
India in Space
The year began, quite literally, with a bang, in India, with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), on 1 January, successfully launching its first X–Ray polarimeter satellite XPOSAT to study the polarisation of intense X- Ray sources in space. A few days later came the news that ISRO’s Aditya – L1 spacecraft, on India’s first solar mission, had successfully entered its final orbit around the first Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L1), approximately 1.5 million kms from the earth. ISRO added another feather to its already much decorated cap, by successfully launching, on 14 July, Chandrayaan 14 and being able to achieve in full the objectives of the mission, namely to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the Lunar surface and conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
From Religious Milestone to Political Shifts
The month of January was to see another historic occasion, with Prime Minister Modi performing the ‘Prana Pratishtha’, or the sacred Hindu religious ceremony of infusing life, into the idol, at the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. Strangely enough, Rahul Gandhi commenced his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Imphal also on the same day. And on the 25th of the month, French President Emmanuel Macron, arrived at Jaipur, for a two day visit to India, and held a joint road show. With Prime Minister Modi, in Delhi. The75th Republic Day of India was celebrated on the 26th of the month with Macron as the Chief Guest. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, of Bihar, resigned on 28 January, ending the coalition with the I.N.D.I.A. block, and took over as the Chief Minister for the ninth time, by joining the BJP led NDA.
In 2013, on repeated requests from the student community of Ladakh, Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk helped launch the New Ladakh Movement (NLM), a social campaign and Ladakh’s version of Green Party with the aim of working for sustainable education, environment and economy.
Uniform Civil Code Act
Then came another historic event, with the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, on 7 February, passing the Uniform Civil Code Act, the state being the first in India to do so. Within a few days after that, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India on 15 February, handed down a judgement, striking down the Electoral Bond scheme as unconstitutional, bringing to an end the controversy surrounding that somewhat unusual step taken by the central government.
Citizenship Amendment Act
Then, on 9 March, government of India announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which enables the acquisition of Indian citizenship, by people belonging to minority communities from select religions, including the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Jains, the Christians, the Buddhists and the Parsis, from neighbouring countries, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Election Commissioner Arun Goyal, resigned on the same day, on the eve of the general elections, attributing his action to personal reasons, not heeding the efforts to dissipate him. Speculation was rife in the top official circles that he was actually in good health and stepped down on account of differences between him and the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar.
The somewhat controversial arrest, by the Enforcement Directorate of the government of India, of Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, took place on the 21st of the month.
Electoral Shift: BJP’s Loss, NDA’s Gain
General Elections to Parliament were held from April to June 2024. The ruling BJP party suffered a setback in terms of losing its outright majority, but had the consolation of the big.-tent, multi – party, political alliance, the National Democratic Alliance, being able to secure a majority in the Lok Sabha. The Telugu Desam party and the Janata Dal (United), being the key partners, in the alliance comprising 36 political parties.
NEET Examination Controversy
A major controversy shook the country over the issue of anomalous results and alleged leakage of question papers during the conduct of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), in the month of May. The matter was finally put to rest by the Supreme Court, which, in its decision, on 5 May, upheld the integrity of the process and refused to order a fresh examination.
Implementation of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
A relatively routine development, that took place on 1 July, was the coming into effect of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and other laws passed in 2023 Indian Penal Code replacing the Criminal Procedure Code and other related laws, enacted during the colonial era and in force until then.
A global IT outage, on July 19 2024, affected more than 8.5 million Microsoft computers worldwide, disrupting airlines, hospitals, banks, train services, and even government agencies. The outage was caused by a faulty update from the cybersecurity provider, CrowdStrike, which caused Microsoft Windows machines to crash and get stuck in the infamous “blue screen of death” booting loop.
Landslides in Wayanad
And on the 30th of the month, in a major natural calamity, at least 231 people were killed and close to 400 injured, apart from more than 100 missing, on account of landslides in the Wayanad district of Kerala. I was particularly saddened by the event, as I had, earlier, dealt with the subject of Landslides as a Member of the newly constituted National Disaster Management Authority. The seismic sensitivity of the region and the extraordinarily heavy rains, attributable to climate change and global warming were, no doubt, factors beyond human control. However, many other factors, such as poor building construction and reckless deforestation, undertaken in order to make way for tea plantations, mining operations, quarrying and setting up of thermal and hydel power projects, in an already ecologically sensitive zone, and in open defiance of the recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel constituted in 2011 by the Ministry of Environment of the government of India were certainly inexcusable actions. Also regrettable was the report that the warnings issued, 16 hours earlier to the event, by the Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology, in Kalpetta nearby, were ignored by the authorities concerned. Yet, a big consolation came, in the form of many exemplary, and commendable, relief and rehabilitation activities, undertaken subsequently by the state government, the district administration, non-government organisations and public spirited citizens, not to mention, in a few cases, even elephants!, earned kudos from all quarters.
Billionaire Son’s Lavish Wedding
In the same month, while it had no significant relevance in the context of the economic, political, and social challenges being faced by the country, the extravagantly lavish wedding took place, of the son of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, attended by the who is who, not only of India, but also several other countries remained an event the print, electronic, and social media in the country fixated with, for a surprisingly long time.
End of Tripura Insurgency
The curtain fell, on 4 September, on the saga of the 35 year old insurgency in Tripura, with the Tripura Peace Accord being signed, on 6 September, by the National Liberation Front and the All Tripura Tiger Force, on the one side, and the state government and the government of India, on the other. There is not much that a civil servant can take credit for, especially years after retirement. Yours faithfully may, therefore, be excused, for deriving some satisfaction, from the fact that that day also happens to be his birthday!
Laddu Controversy at Tirupati Temple
Also in September, a sensational development that arrested the attention of the whole country, and many places outside. Laboratory tests revealed the usage of beef, and other animal fats, in the preparation of the Laddus, the sweets offered at the temple of Lord Venkateswara, or the Tirupati Balaji Temple, at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh. Controversy erupted when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, accused the previous administration of allowing the adulteration. In response to the serious allegations, and the public outcry that followed, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) took swift action, and the Temple performed a purification ritual, the ‘Santi Homam’, to restore the Prasadam’s sanctity. In a parallel response, the Union Health Ministry issued a show-cause notice to the dairy supplier involved, The Andhra Pradesh government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of senior officials to investigate the allegations and reassure devotees. To ensure impartiality, and to reassure the public and bolster confidence in the investigation, the Supreme Court established an independent SIT on October 4, taking over from the Andhra Pradesh government’s SIT. The row sparked varied reactions from political figures and celebrities. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan criticized the alleged disregard for temple protocols, citing incidents under the previous government. Actor Prakash Raj faced backlash from some political leaders, as his comments were seen as downplaying the issue. Meanwhile, Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the former Chief Minister, urged devotees to conduct special poojas, dismissing the accusations as politically motivated. In a letter to PM Modi, Reddy emphasized TTD’s strict quality checks and denied the claims of animal fat use in the laddus.
Astrophysicists estimate that the age of the universe is about 13.8 billion years, the age of planet earth about 4.5 billion years. 3.7 billion years, approximately, is when life first made its appearance. And the most primitive form of the Homo sapiens species, to which human beings belong, is estimated to have made its presence, known, in the region known as West Asia today, about 300,000 years ago.
Memorable Anecdotes
I wish to add here a couple of experiences about the Tirupati Temple from my life, although they may not be directly connected with the happenings of 2024. An agnostic initially, I made a pilgrimage to Tirumala in 1964, following an accidental mishap, in the course of a chemistry experiment, which made me fare badly in the B.Sc. (Hons.) examination at Delhi University. I climbed up the steps from Tirupati to Tirumala. I was 19 years old, then, and continued to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara, walking up the steps whenever I could, and, occasionally even performing the ‘AngaPradakshinam’, or rolling over sideways around the inner circumference of the Temple, around the sanctum sanctorum, a couple of times. I only stopped climbing the steps recently, after reaching 70. During those 50 years, I almost invariably got my head shaved off on each visit, and left it like that until my next visit. On one occasion, when the duration between two visits was close to 2 years, my hair had grown so long that, in a photograph taken of me and Governor Sharda Mukherjee of Andhra Pradesh (as whose Secretary I was functioning at that time), people could not make out who the Governor was, and who I!
Miraculous Stories
Stories of miraculous happenings abound, about the temple and the Lord. My Guru, Ganapathi Sastry, related an incident of his having gone for ‘Darshanam’, early one morning. Though he had purchased a ticket for a particular Seva, he was denied entrance, as the prescribed number, for the Seva, had already been reached. In frustration, he told Lord Venkateswara that he would go back and not return until he was assured of a satisfactory audience, at the feet of the Deity. As he was leaving the premises, he was hosted by a disciple of his, who invited him to join him for a cup of coffee. As Ganapati Sastry was about to sip his coffee, the disciple informed him that he had a ticket for two people and asked whether Sastry would like to join him. Delighted by the opportunity presented to him, Sastry readily agreed, and, forsaking the coffee, went in for the Darsanam. Afterwards as he was leaving the Temple, another group of pilgrims, from Sastry’s native place, Samalkot, near Kakinada, in East Godavari district of the state, persuaded him to accompany them for another function, which they were performing. After that, once again, as Sastry was stepping out of the temple, yet another family, who were his disciples, persuaded Sastry to join them in a ‘Kalyanam’ or marriage function of the Lord with his Consort, which they were performing. Finally, after sunset, having neither had coffee, or breakfast, nor lunch during the whole day, Sastry found himself still within the premises of the temple, after sunset. He told me that he then prostrated himself before the Lord, and begged forgiveness, for his rash thoughts in the morning and, contented, but hungry, left for home Also, in the same month, a ban on the public consumption of beef came into effect in Assam state.
Personal Reflections
Another event that gave me great joy at that time, was the election of my wife, Usha, as President of the Durgabai Deshmukh Andhra Mahila Sabha. The success gave us that much more pride, and joy, on account of the fact that Durgabai Deshmukh and my mother had been childhood friends at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh and she and her husband, the distinguished civil servant Dr. C.D. Deshmukh had been our guests when I was posted as Collector of Krishna district in the late 1970s.
Milestones in Indian Aviation Industry
Recent developments in aviation technology have brought with them many significant benefits, such as increased connectivity, and faster travel, also providing a boost to the country’s economy. Not however, without some drawbacks, including their impact on the environment, cost, dependence on technology, and security concerns. Ever since the Tata Group announced plans to merge its low-cost carriers, Air India Express and AIX Connect, discontent had been growing among cabin crew, with their union alleging downgrading working conditions, mismanagement and unequal treatment of staff. Around 300 cabin crew called in sick and switched off their phones on 8-9 May in protest against planned changes to the carrier’s human resources policies, effectively resulting in strike action that led to the cancellation of around 100 Air India Express flights. Incidentally. The first ever private military aircraft manufacturing facility, at Vadodara in India, was inaugurated in October, as part of a joint venture between Airbus and Tata Advanced Systems.
Major Protests and Movements
Farmers, on 8 December, suspended the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march after injuries were suffered by some of them following the firing of tear gas shells at Shambhu along the Punjab – Haryana border. It is to be recalled that in 2020-2021, farmers of Punjab and Haryana states protested against the three Farm Acts that were passed by Parliament in September 2020. The acts were subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court, before, eventually being repealed. The farmers continue to maintain that, besides a statutory minimum support price, their demands include farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, a static electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases, and justice for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur – Kheri violence, apart from reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act 2013.
Climate Activist’s Hunger Strike
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and fellow activists, on 25 October, ended their 15 – day hunger strike after the Ministry of Home Affairs of the government of India informed them of a meeting with Ladakh groups in December. The strike was undertaken demanding a sixth schedule status for Ladakh. Wangchuk was Founding Director of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), which was founded in 1988 by a group of students who had been, in his own words, the ‘victims’ of an alien education system foisted on Ladakh. In 2013, on repeated requests from the student community of Ladakh, he helped launch the New Ladakh Movement (NLM), a social campaign and Ladakh’s version of Green Party with the aim of working for sustainable education, environment and economy. It also aimed at uniting all local political leaders under one banner for the growth and development of Ladakh. Eventually, the members decided to make it into a non-political social movement.
Sports Triumphs
There was refreshingly good news on the sports front, with Manu Bhaker – Sarobjot Singh winning India’s first shooting team medal at the Paris Olympics, becoming the first Indian shooting pair to win an Olympics medal. Equally heartwarming was the fact that India won six medals, a silver and five bronze and was ranked 71st among the 206 National Olympic Committees (NOC)s that participated in the Olympics, representing the third – best medal haul after 2020 and 2012, respectively.
Political Arrests
The year saw criminal proceedings being launched, and arrests made, of two Chief Ministers of states. Chief Minister Hemanth Soren of Jharkhand was arrested on 1 January by the Enforcement Directorate of the government of India in connection with a money laundering case linked to a land scam. The arrest came an hour after Soren was sworn in as chief minister. Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested, also by the Enforcement Directorate of the government of India, on 21 March for alleged involvement in a liquor policy case. Charge sheets have been filed in both the cases and trials are under progress.
Hasina’s Resignation & Maldives’ Diplomatic Fallout
Turning to what happened in the outside world, there was a significant development in the neighbourhood, with Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, resigning, on 5 August in the face of national protest and taking refuge in India. Interestingly enough, Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus, took oath as Chief Advisor of the interim government formed following Haseena’s resignation. Unconfirmed Reports have it that Haseena is currently living in Delhi. Another incident, of considerable importance to India, was the somewhat intemperate outburst, on 7 January, by three ministers of the Maldives government targeting Prime Minister Modi on social media. The consequent backlash in India and the tourism boycott that followed triggered a diplomatic row, forcing the Maldivian government to suspend the three ministers.
India-China Agreement on Border Patrolling
The agreement between China and India, to restore mutual patrolling arrangements in Deson plains and Demchok in the Ladakh region, marked the first significant breakthrough since the 2020 border crisis. A major and welcome development indeed in the checquered relationship the two largest Asian economies have had, coming, as it did, following the landmark agreement reached by Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping, earlier, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia. It is indeed significant that it was followed by the process of troop disengagement in those two friction points being, since, completed. What is more, India and China held their first official-level talks in New Delhi, just a couple of days ago and “reflected on the lessons”. l learnt from the military stand-off and also agreed on the need for “effective border management” and “maintenance of peace and tranquility”, as part of bilateral pacts.
European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act
In the international arena, an event of considerable international significance was the passing, by the European Union of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, the world‘s first comprehensive, legal and regulatory framework for AI.
Environmental Impact of the Eclipse
The year also witnessed, on 8 April, a rare and spectacular celestial event, a total solar eclipse, also known as a great North American eclipse, visible across a band of regions covering parts of North America, from Mexico to Canada and the adjoining states in the USA. Several interesting things happened on that day, such as one million visitors thronging the parks in New York City and, quite unsurprisingly, a steep drop in solar and wind power generation in America. What is more, typical of Americans, the Yankees baseball team gave away 15,000 T-shirts, to fans at the Yankee Stadium, at the end of the day’s game, which had been pushed back by four hours by the eclipse!
Britain’s Historic Election
And in Britain, in the general election held on 4th July, the opposition Labour Party, led by Keir Stermer, defeated the governing Conservative Party, led by Rishi Sunak, in a landslide victory, representing the first general election victory for the Labour Party after close to 20 years. As a purely personal aside, to the main theme of the narrative of this article, I wish to share with the readers the interesting fact about 4 July. It may well have been an eloquent testimony to democracy in the UK but, in our family, stands for dictatorship. It may, likewise, be the day on which Americans celebrate their independence, but also happens to be the birthday of the person born, who took away mine, forever, although many years later! My wife, Usha, was born on 4 July, 1948!
A Lesson in Irony
A global IT outage, on July 19 2024, affected more than 8.5 million Microsoft computers worldwide, disrupting airlines, hospitals, banks, train services, and even government agencies. The outage was caused by a faulty update from the cybersecurity provider, CrowdStrike, which caused Microsoft Windows machines to crash and get stuck in the infamous “blue screen of death” booting loop. The saving feature was that the disruption was caused, not by cyber-attacks from hostile hackers, but by the cybersecurity firm whose product was meant to prevent such attacks.
From UN Resolution to Diplomatic Effort
The UN General assembly, on 10 May, passed a resolution to grant the state of Palestine the right to be seated among member states in alphabetical order. Informed observers are waiting with baited breath for Donald Trump to take over as the President of the United States formally and put an end to the armed conflict between Israel and the Hamas – led Palestinian militant organisation.
In a rather unusual outburst the US President, Joe Biden, called Japan and India as xenophobic countries, grouping them with Russia and China as countries, which do not want immigrants. Biden went on to point out that India’s economy was faltering. That, in spite of India being a key US partner, and Biden, only a little earlier, having called the US – Japan alliance unbreakable. The White House, subsequently stated that no offence was meant by the President and Jayashankar, Minister of External Affairs of India, rejected Biden’s claim, making it clear that India was always open to welcoming people from diverse societies and that the country’s economy was not faltering. The White House, subsequently, stated that no offence was meant by the President.
In a significant diplomatic initiative, Prime Minister Modi visited Ukraine in August, accepting an invitation from the President of that country, the first ever such visit after diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in 1992. This was followed up in Kyiv, during the meeting of the CoP, where Modi asked his Ukrainian counterpart to end the Russo-Ukrainian war, also volunteering to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia’s massive assault on an independent Ukraine menaces not only Eastern Europe, but the human effort, since World War II, to build global peace through the international rule of law. Everybody is waiting for the new US administration to start functioning.
Global Peace Initiative and Recognition
A major event of the year was the sending of a signal to the world community, about the importance of peace, through the award of the Nobel Prize for Peace to Nihal Hidankyo, for his effort to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons, and demonstrating, through witness testimony, that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
Climate Change Discussions
2024 also saw an assortment of other events that ranged from exploration of space, to heinous genocide and attacks and prominent political leaders during their election campaigns, through welcome events, such as countries joining once again, in the 29th edition. Of the Conference of Parties, of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, apart from individual countries taking interesting eco-friendly measures.
Space Exploration Milestones
History was created when, on 12 September, the first ever private spacewalk by a non-professional astronaut was conducted by Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, as part of the Polaris Dawn mission. President elect of USA Donald Trump has chosen Isaacman to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). And on 13 October, American Space Technology SpaceX performed the remarkable feat of achieving the first ever successful return and capture of a Super Heavy Booster from Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever.
Impact on Israel’s Diplomatic Standing
The year also saw the deadliest event of the Hezbollah- Israel conflict, with an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon resulting in a deadly clash in which more than 500 people died and close to 2000 were wounded. Israel suffered diplomatic and moral setback as the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to issue warrants against its Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes.
Humanitarian Crises and Displacement
The conflict that broke out in Sudan in April 2023 has displaced 5.4 million people from the country and driven over 1.4 million into neighbouring countries. With no end in sight of the violence, desperate people continue to seek safety and protection outside Sudan.
Uncertainty continues to prevail in the situation in Myanmar following a military coup in 2021 and crack down on protests against the repressive and dictatorial military regime.
And democracy flourished across countries in the world as 80 nations with a combined population of over 4 billion conducted national elections, including the most populous countries such as India, Russia, the United States and the European Parliament.
Global Climate Change Discussion
Britain achieved the unique distinction of becoming the first in the G7 countries to phase out coal power for electric generation after a century and half. During his election campaign, President- elect of USA, Donald Trump, is shot in the right ear in an assassination attempt. Close to 200 countries gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan for the 29th CoP, to participate in another round of discussion and debate, about the Climate Change challenge facing the world.
UN Initiatives and Sustainable Development
In an extremely interesting development, the United Nations declared 2024 as the International Year of Camelids (IYC 2024). Camelids contribute to food security, nutrition and economic growth as well as holding a strong cultural and social significance for communities across the world. They thrive where other livestock species cannot survive, and play an important role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations related to the fight against hunger, the eradication of extreme poverty, the empowerment of women and the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. From providing milk, meat and fibre for communities to transport for products and people, and organic fertilizer. The Year will highlight how camelids are key to the livelihoods of millions of households in hostile environments across over 90 countries, particularly indigenous peoples and local communities. The year, incidentally, was a leap year with the late Morarji Desai formerly the Prime Minister of India being one of the notable personalities to be born in a leap year.
Mathematical Significance of the Year 2025
And the year that is to come, 2025, is not without its interesting properties either. The number, to begin with, is a square. It is also the product of two squares, the square of 9 and the square of 5, or 81 and 25. What is more, it is the sum of three squares, the squares of 40, 20 and 5, or 1600, 400 and 25. Further, 2025 is the first year with a square number after 1936. And, if that is not enough, it is the sum of the cubes of all single digits from 1 to 9, which you can work out for yourself! Before this piece ends, let us sit back, look at the big picture and put things in perspective.
Age of the Universe & Planet Earth
Astrophysicists estimate that the age of the universe is about 13.8 billion years, the age of planet earth about 4.5 billion years. 3.7 billion years, approximately, is when life first made its appearance. And the most primitive form of the Homo sapiens species, to which human beings belong, is estimated to have made its presence, known, in the region known as West Asia today, about 300,000 years ago. Against that background, and assuming a most optimistic hundred year lifespan for the human being, the duration of one year is but like a spark in the firecrackers one sees. On July 4 in America, or the Diwali time in India. Transient, and gone before it can register its existence in history. Here one moment, as it were, and gone the next. The short-lived and momentary quality of life can generate two responses. While the incurable pessimist will question the celebrations of a New Year day as pointless, I, as an equally persistent optimist, insist on questioning, why not?
We are on the subject of 2024, and that of years, and years in general. Years are invariably associated with the process of aging, and one is reminded of the story about a Hollywood actress. A paparazzi once asked her what her age was, and, with a smile, she replied “I am approaching 40.” And pat came the second question, “From which direction Madam!”? And here is wishing a very happy 2025 to all, hoping that it will be as exciting and eventful as 2024, if not more!
