A remarkable year

The approaching end of an year, not surprisingly, tends to get me in a reflective state of mind. But this year, I feel especially, as if I am witnessing the coming together of certain phenomenal trends and social pattern shifts that, not so very long ago, would have been considered revolutionary.
The year began with the rise of Barack Obama, the face of new kind of politics. For the first time in my life, I actually closely followed an election campaign and truly cared about the outcome. To be honest, in the beginning of the democratic primaries, I was a Hillary fan and hoped she would break the biggest glass ceiling for all women. But over the course of his campaign, Obama won me over by his ability to see and articulate the bigger picture. He made Hillary seem petulant in comparison at times. His intelligence and thoughtfulness were a welcome contrast after having endured the fecklessness of the George W Bush administration for most of the years that I have been a US resident. Like much of America I wept as I watched him give his victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago. It was obvious that this election was Martin Luther King's "dream" coming true for not just blacks, but so many people of all races who have struggled against racism and prejudice. Even places like the American South, where a significant number of people voted against Obama simply due to the color of his skin, will no doubt, be forced to reconsider the American identity and what it means in the 21st century.
Despite all the cynicism that I usually express towards politics, this was a historic moment that I will always remember fondly. I am happy then that this year, when America has taken a big stride towards "perfecting its union" that I became a US citizen. My feelings about giving up my Indian citizenship remain ambiguous, of course. The heartstrings will never stop pulling me towards the land of my birth, but this year, for the first time in 10 years, I felt a genuine affection for and connection with my adopted country. Earlier this year, we had visited Philadelphia, and saw in person the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights etc. Having not taken too many American history courses in college, it was a fascinating first hand lesson about America's founding ideals and events. I was touched despite my bravado about the commerce of historical tourism etc. Having learnt and read about the extermination of most of the Native American population at the time of this country's birth and all the evils of U.S. foreign policy over the last century during my days in Berkeley (brilliant, beautiful, left-leaning Berkeley- a world unto itself!), I now saw a different side of the country I lived in. I will never be able to appreciate the U.S.- centered world view and arrogance of many native born Americans, but it did make me understand the roots of the passion towards this country's constitution which Obama expressed so often in his speeches.
Another momentous theme that became more and more relevant this year was highlighted by rising gas prices and increasing evidence of global warming. Alternative energy and energy conservation have become serious policy issues rather than the preoccupations of fringe environmentalists that they had been considered in the last century. The incoming presidential administration is actually promising to invest like never before in helping the country become oil-independent. I think the next decade or two in energy research will prove to be just as transformative for the world as the information technology revolution was in the 1990's. Americans, the leaders in the world in wasteful consumption, are for the first time, seriously reconsidering their lifestyles. Cloth bags are everywhere, bestselling books (see my review of "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman in near future!) are advocating switching off the office lights at night, and it is not cool anymore to be seen driving a Hummer. These are baby steps, but steps in the right direction nonetheless. Hopefully, the right set of policies over the next 4 years will steer the US economy as well as its consumers towards a more sustainable way of being.
While the banking, credit and housing crises have pushed the US economy into a huge decline this year, India and China, continue to inspire tales of new-found self-confidence. These are ancient civilizations which had been once the very epitome of prosperity, order and innovation. Now, after having being in the dark ages economically for more than a couple of centuries, the Asian giants see the next century as one of their rise to the top of the heap again. This may be true, but if all the grave warnings about the climate crisis come true, then there may not be much of a world left for them to dominate over. They are both aiming to adopt the American ways of consumption, waste and environmental pollution, except on an even larger scale, given their respective population sizes. While the possibility of alleviating millions out of poverty and building world class companies in both countries is awesome, they both need to step up to the plate to approach development with a different mindset than their western predecessors. Their cities are already the most polluted in the world. They stand to do everyone, including their own citizens, a world of good by cleaning up their smoke throwing factories, "greening" their construction and automotive standards, and investing into alternative energy research than just waiting for someone else to take the lead here. I, for one, will really enjoy going to Delhi and being able to see the winter sun without the smoggy haze covering it.
The last trend that I am really happy to notice is the redefinition of feminism. While previous generations of feminists were more preoccupied with trying to prove women are just as good as men, the women in my generation simply take this for granted. This gives us more flexibility to not just pursue careers but really make choices for what makes us happy, whether that be a focus on the family, or participating more actively in our communities. One major obstacle that does remain, though often not frankly discussed, is the fact that while women make up almost an equal proportion of the workforce as men, they still disproportionately do the major share of work at home and for their children. This state of being constantly overworked is definitely not one that leads to happiness for anyone. More and more women, and in many cases, their partners in life, have started to recognize this unhealthy pattern. Lifestyle choices and websites like www.equallysharedparenting.org have put a special light on the steps individual couples are taking to correct this imbalance. What remains missing is a systemic and work policy framework that helps working families maintain a better balance. As more and more people in my generation, especially women, lean towards quality of life and family time in their lives, the government and private companies need to start doing more to ensure this critical area of workers' well-being is not ignored.
Yet, with all the positives that occurred, the world also witnessed the endless cycle of violence, bigotry and corruption that modern societies seem unable to break out of. At the end of 2008, India and Pakistan stand at the brink of yet another war. Israel is yet again invading Palestine, and Palestinians throwing rockets on Israelis. Islamic fundamentalists continue to spread their message of hatred around the world. Much of Africa remains in the darkness of regional warfare, political instability, malnutrition and disease. And in America, politicians like Blagoveich reminded us yet again of what a dirty games politics is at its heart, and Bernie Madoff showed us just how awful a farce can greed veiled in capitalism prove to be. So, we enter a new year, fighting the battle between good and evil, light and darkness, congealed traditions and progress, that mankind has been fighting since time immemorial. It is a good time to be alive!