Christmas is in the air, and the New Year is nigh. Given as we are to stock taking this time of the year (as if there’s not a New Year beginning every moment), can we reflect on 2016 and take away just one key lesson from it?
Brexit, Donald Trump, Syria, Dutee Chand and P. V. Sindhu at the Olympics, surgical strikes, demonetization, disability rights recognition, the National Anthem directive, Dalit rights assertion, queer pride and more – that’s quite a motley mix even by super-spicy Kolkata jhal muri standards.
What’s my take-away from these highs and lows of the year going-going gone by? I think it’s about what the headline (borrowed from the 1983 R. K. Munir film title) seems to be saying. Let’s try to think from the perspective of the other person. What would it feel like to be them, or be in their position?
However convinced we are about the correctness of our position, there’s always scope to review and adjust it for the better. The choice is ours. We can look away as much as we want to, but that jhola (of guilt, denial or prejudice?) will catch up and photo-bomb our picture of perfectness!
Main photo credit: Pawan Dhall (photograph shows a scene from ‘Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk 2016’).
