Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
While we are unable to settle whether the decade actually ends with 2019, the dawn of 2020 surely marks the end of an era.
No, 1990s was not just ten years ago but a whole three decades earlier. It has been 20 years since you first danced to Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai or sat in front of your television sets to watch Kaun Banega Crorepati. Feeling old yet?
Instagram filters have been around for 10 years now. Facebook and Twitter have existed for more than a dozen years. And remember Orkut – probably, your initiation into the world of social media? It has already been six years since it shut down.
2020 marks a whole 12 years of the IPL filling your summers with an overdose of cricket.
It has also been nine years since MS Dhoni smacked that six out of Wankhede Stadium and brought home India’s second Cricket World Cup.
2019 marked nine years since the ‘Anti-corruption Movement’ led by Anna Hazare, that set tone for the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. And that brings us to queuing outside ATMs. Demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes was four years ago.
These past 19 years have also seen their fair share of news that devastated us, one of which is the 9/11 attacks.
The Mumbai terror attack that brought India to a standstill happened 12 years ago. It has also been 12 years since the murder of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar shook the nation. And eight years ago, the country came together to demand justice for Nirbhaya in the rape and murder case.
Remember the Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 that disappeared with 227 people? That was six years ago and the flight is yet to be found.
Entering 2020, it is important to remember a lesson Rang De Basanti taught us 14 years ago:
There are two ways to live a life. One, let things be the way they are. Embrace them. Or else, pick up the mantle to bring the change.
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