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                          Living in hope for better times in 2022

2021 is on way out. And as the year departs,it leaves behind its memories.

As I look back at the year nearly gone by,I find that it has been a painful year,painful for many people across the world. At least in one case the whole world has suffered terrible pain and it has been caused by the Corona virus that took the shape of the pandemic and shook the whole world.

Nobody may have forgotten how people were dying like falling leaves in the autumn season. Even the most prosperous nations with vast resources found that they were not fully equipped to provide even the hospitalization required to save the lives of the people. There were not enough beds, and surely there was no medication available to save the people’s lives. That was the pain that most of the world suffered.

Besides pain caused by the pandemic, one witnessed a growing belligerence among people and nations.  One could see a tendency to create conflicts rather than resolve conflicts, rather than prevent conflicts.The world has witnessed during the last one-year terrible growth of belligerence and intolerance. In the US, that belligerence was evident when Trump’s supporters attacked the Capitol in Washington, threatening the lives of the lawmakers.

It was evident in the shootings, in the killings, in the discourses of the lawmakers who never ever hesitated in uttering the harshest words for their opponents.

I am from India,and it is said about Indians that you can take an Indian out of India, but you cannot take India out of an Indian. So, all Indians who have made foreign lands their homes tend to stay emotional with the country of their origin. It is s quite natural that the happenings in India affect Indians here. It has really been a very painful year for people in India. They have to put up with a government which does not rule by the law but over the law. Indian democracy has under the present government turned into a kind of autocracy. The authoritarian rule is too much for a people who have enjoyed a certain kind of freedom for almost 65 years.

The present government has been very harsh to many sections of society. The fundamentalist Hindus in the ruling party have created a situation in India where the people of other faiths feel insecure. Over the years the belligerence of the rulers has been growing, and now they have started openly threatening the minorities – Muslims and Christians. There have been instances when even their basic human rights have been trampled underfoot. One shudders to think of what lies in the future. It appears that Indian Government rather than uniting the people of the country is more interested in dividing them, and we all know very well why they need to divide. They need to divide to rule; and that’s a very dangerous game that they are playing. My heart goes out to the people of India who have to suffer under an autocratic rule. I hope 2022 will bring about favorable changes for the people of India.

Happy New Year!