As we enter the ebbing moments of the year 2023, it is time to reminiscence about the events that shaped this year. Started with a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the year saw yet another bloody war raging across Gaza killing numerous innocent lives. With natural and man-made disasters and conflicts dominating the year, it is very difficult to find a silver lining. Yet there are some brave efforts by individuals that has rekindled our faith in humanity. Here is a round-up of the major events that unfurled during the year 2023 across the world, in India and in Chennai. The impact of these events may well extend well in year 2024 and beyond .
1. When the Earth shook:
In February this year, a devastating earthquake ripped through Turkey and Syria. The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake near the Turkey -Syria border on February 6th 2023 was one of the biggest disasters in recent history. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and many more have been injured. Thousands of buildings have collapsed, leaving countless people exposed to unforgiving winter conditions. In Northwest Syria that was already at the height of a conflict induced humanitarian crisis, the earthquake was a body blow escalating the suffering of more than 4.1 million relying purely on humanitarian assistance to survive.
As a humanitarian relief worker, I had a small part to play in the relief operations mounted in Turkey and Syria. I flew to Turkey on 10th February to oversee the operations that was coordinated by multiple international and UN agencies. The scale of the destruction of the infrastructure and the impact on lives and livelihoods are several times more than what was generally reported. I salute the resilience of the people of Turkey and Syria and the tireless efforts put in by volunteers and aid workers from all over the world. I thank God for giving me an opportunity to serve the people amidst this devastation.
2. Facing the heat:
2023 is most likely the hottest year in almost 175 years triggering extreme weather events around the globe including wildfires and flooding and pushed Climate Change on top of the Global Agenda. COP28 that ended in Dubai in December closed with an agreement that according to the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell marks "the beginning of the end" for fossil fuels.
3. Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza:
Even as the world is still reeling under the impact of the Russia – Ukraine war, another bloody war erupted in Gaza. Following the Palestinian Militant Group Hamas’s significant attack on Israel in the early hours of October 7th, Tel Aviv responded by launching deadly bomb strikes that flattened the Gaza strip, killing over 20,000 Gazans and leaving over 2.3 million residents without food, fuel and electricity. With a vengeful Israel not relenting to world’s cry for a ceasefire, this disproportionate attack and the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed is likely to continue into the year 2024 and beyond
4. India won the race against China:
As incredulous as it sounds, we finally won a race against China. After years of competing with China on various fronts, and claiming small victories by banning Chinese apps and restricting imports from China, we finally had something substantial to boast.
India broke the record to become the most populous country in the world. With an estimated 1.43 billion people, we now have surpassed our neighbour China. Will India able to feed and sustain this population that is expected to grow at least for the next three decades? Going by our tall claims on elimination of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, this question is not going to bother our Leaders and likely to be brushed aside under the overarching narrative of a growing Bharath.
5. Reaching for the Moon:
In August this year, India celebrated the successful moon mission — Chandrayaan-3. The Lander achieved a ‘soft landing’ on the Moon’s south pole making lunar history by being the first Country to do so close to the south pole. While it is a proud achievement indeed for our scientific prowess and indigenous capability, hyping it as a political achievement marred much of the rightful jubilation among the scientific community.
6. Heartbreak at Narendra Modi Stadium:
Nearly 1.4 billion people suffered a heartbreak as Invincible India riding on an incredible 10 wins in a row - fell short of winning the ODI World Cup to a terrific Australian team. After winning all the fixtures including registering their first win against Australia in Chennai, India’s hopes were dashed in the finals.
Australia enjoyed the challenge of taking on India against jingoist Indian fans and silenced them in style. The empty stands that greeted the winning Australian team underlined the shameful fact that we are sore losers who failed to applaud a strong overall performance by Australia that established their supremacy in the limited overs game.
7. CSK back to winning ways;
in the IPL 2023 Final, CSK beat Gujarat Titans in a thrilling final. Jadeja’s exploits in the last two balls exorcised the ghosts of a disappointing 2022 outing for the men in yellow and helped script history for CSK. In 2024, with Dhoni still at the helm and some exciting new talent in the form of Rachin Ravindra, CSK is well prepared for the up coming IPL season.
8. A City under Water:
Chennai bore the brunt of yet another severe cyclonic storm Michaung this December. With rainfall exceeding 50 cms in certain parts, Cyclone Michaung resulted in a deluge that even surpassed the December 2015 flooding.
Michaung’s fury swept away the tall claims of flood mitigation preparedness of the DMK Government. Though the Govt. Swung into action soon to drain the excess water in residential areas, people of Chennai have lost faith in government’s ability and intention to help the flood affected.
Before Chennai could fully recover, the unprecedented rains and flooding in Southern districtsof Tamilnadu proved even disastrous resulting in loss of life and livelihoods of several farmers, salt-pan workers and small scale industrial units.
While Government is quick to blame the weather Gods and nature for this unprecedented once in hundred year rainfall, it is time that we the people take responsibility and retrospect on our unmindful actions that have accentuated nature’s fury.
9. All Invasive (AI) Technology
Artificial Intelligence -AI even made it to the word of the year and emerged as one of the most disruptive technology of this century. The so called large-language models made writing work less tedious. Whether brushing up the language of your emails or aligning your Resume to a job description, AI amazed us with the speed and ease which it reproduced neatly formatted meaningful content on almost any topic. While the unlimited potential of AI has many benefits in democratising knowledge and science, it may have equally damning consequences if not regulated and moderated by human intelligence.
As a writer, my take is AI is a good assistant, but it will not be able to replace one’s unique style and thought flow. I had used it extensively to beat strict deadlines of submitting office reports or even revising boring emails into something interesting ( or more diplomatic in my case) . Though it’s tempting to use AI for writing my personal blog posts, I have refrained from doing so as I feel that such Artificial piece of writing however Intelligent it may be could not replace my soul that breathes life into my original writing.
10. Humanity’s small win:
The mammoth rescue operation to rescue 41 workers trapped under a tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand was a heartwarming moment in a year marked by so much natural and man-made disasters. Even when technology failed in the mission to drill through, it’s the humble “rat-hole miners” who finally succeeded in digging through the last 12 meters and reached the trapped men. Many of the miners from humble and poor background have made a deep impact in our minds with their outstanding humanity in the face of crisis and their self effacing humility.
Postscript:
Rizz, the Oxford Word of the year 2023 is short for ‘Charisma”. This slang word is made popular by Gen Z and tick-tock generation. Rizz seems to be a cock-a-hoop at all old timers and language purists. Maybe it’s the younger generation’s call to us for turning up our Rizz quotient amidst the all consuming maladies of this world.
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