Come December, we always look back at the year gone by – introspecting, making resolutions for the coming year, and subconsciously accepting that these promises won’t be followed through. 2020 has been different. We have seen the repercussions of being lax with our concerns about safety. We have had a lot to think about, much of it being intense questions about the global systems, difficult realisations about failures and acknowledgement about the need to change old paradigms. In this issue, we reflect upon hopes and concerns, looking back at 2020 while also looking ahead to 2021.
We look at how the pandemic has changed us: we have been compelled to have certain conversations, and working from home has become the norm. To understand how our everyday struggles may have taught us more about ourselves than we realise, we explore humour as it creates a channel for a personal look at the lockdown.
From the point of view of economics, where exactly does India stand in the world now? Domestically, what challenges does the future hold for India’s business families? Drawing the lens away, what is the history of the minimum support price in the Indian agro-market and what are the two sides that make it contentious now? How then, do we combat misinformation and ‘make the world add up’?
In dreary times, many of us have taken to the online space to find corners of entertainment. In the move towards more diverse and accessible content, we bring Indie film recommendations, the five you must watch. Has our patriotism evolved with our films? What can we learn about the different literary prizes? These are all extremely important questions to take into the next year as we consume an ever-increasing plethora of content. What we must also keep in mind are the impact of social media, and technology on the ethics surrounding journalism.
2020 has also faced us with intense climate change calamities and it has become more important than ever to look at 2021 with hope for genuine action, but is the world up for it? Despite the pandemic, we have seen environmental protests sustain, but what does it take for environmental movements to truly work?
Bringing our gaze back to the personal, we look at how masks have been incorporated into fashion, while our daily fashion itself seems to have been metamorphosed by the culture of work-from-home.
2020 has been bizarre and intense. This issue looks at transformation, what can this year tell us about what’s to come? Is it possible for the transition to 2021 to be seamless?
–Aradhya Sharma, Mansi Ranka, and Sanya Chandra
Picture Credit: Getty Images
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