Written by Foram Fanasia
Hey! Look at us. Who would’ve thought, huh? Not me.
The year 2020. Let’s wrap-up this utmost PTSD-inducing year real quick. However, if you think about it, the year wasn’t all that bad. That’s exactly what a masochist and a sadist would say. Let’s give this year a good wrap-up by talking about all the ____ things we went through this year.
The first month gave us a plethora of unsettling headlines, from World War 3 hints and outrageous natural calamities across the globe, to the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant in a fatal helicopter crash. Little did we know that this frequency of bad news was here to stay, just like the coronavirus. January saw volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, and unforgettable Australian bushfires nature had started reacting. Britain left the EU, setting Brexit in motion.
Protests followed us to February as Iran was rattled by gruesome and violent revolts against the ruling government. The swarm of protests also took India, as everyone took part in the sparked conversation regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act. At the same, the hilarious impeachment trial of Donald Trump caught several eyes.
By this time, the infamous virus had started spreading, leaving us all in the pre-apocalyptic state. COVID19 brought along countless hassles, one of which was the economic crisis — the worst since the Great Depression of the year 1930. All of this was just the beginning of all that was in store.
The month of March called for the nation to shut down, leaving all of us performing tasks as requested by our Prime Minister. On the bright side, Harvey Weinstein was ultimately given a sentence to his term for sexual harassment and rape that had sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017. April got us all cooking and painting, hoping for things to get back to normal soon. Little did we know that the “soon” would keep us waiting for a long time. We’re still sweating it out, succumbing to the new normal. In a year that seemed jinxed, we lost some of the greatest actors of Bollywood, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. The following month of May brought a horrifying video of George Floyd getting strangled to public attention. It blazed one of the largest movements in US history as Black Lives Matter supporters ignited a war against racism around the globe.
While the world was in turmoil, people adapted the new normal in a bid to bring everything back on track— starting with sports (pun intended). Yet, the 2020 Summer Olympics had to be postponed to 2021 and Wimbledon was canceled. It was only later in the year that sports matches resumed over the world albeit in strictly-regulated conditions.
Bollywood lost another young gem Sushant Singh Rajput in June to suicide. The actor’s death left everyone appalled and sparked widespread conversation and controversies all over the country.
On August 4th, a catastrophic explosion in Beirut killed over 200 people, injuring many more. Halfway into the year, we witnessed fatal Californian wildfires scorching acres of land.
As we saw India climb the COVID-19 death toll ladder to number 3, Europe went through a second wave of COVID-19 in October. By then, 10% of the world population was infected. Even President Trump and First Lady Melania weren’t spared from coronavirus’s wrath. Later in November, the US presidential elections declared Joe Biden along with Kamala Harris as victors. Harris created history by becoming the first woman, and the first person of colour to be elected as Vice President. Speaking of making history, Lewis Hamilton became one of the world’s greatest F1 champions by shattering multiple records to win the 7th World Championship (four straight in a row), and Mercedes AMG Petronas rewrote history books by winning the World Constructors Championship for the 7th time in a row. Coronavirus upgraded itself in this last month of a traumatizing year to end it on a high.
This year was nowhere near normal and unlike the friendly neighbourhood pandemic, the year is finally ending. We lost many, risked a lot, but, most importantly, some of us survived this year. 2020 did bring out the best and the worst in us, but hey, at least we got brilliant memes this year!
Foram Fanasia
Senior Editor
Renesa
