I meant to make a short succinct post about the strange, sad, funny news trends of 2018 but found that there was too much that went on in 2018 to cover in one post. So here is part 2 of the news and trends that made headlines in the year that is almost over; a year many of us wish was already history:
The Football World Cup was on and people were swooning with excitement every time a team they supported advanced and mourned when it was knocked out. This time around, we also had a lot of theatrics on display and some new young stars appeared on the firmament.
12 little boys and their coach were trapped in a cave in Thailand and people from all over came together to save them. It was just a heartwarming, cheering and wonderful story... Elon Musk notwithstanding.
Donald Trump's apparent admiration and affection for Vladimir Putin and possible collusion with the Russians continued to pop up in the news. This Time Magazine cover, kompromat (compromising material) that the Russians presumably have of Trump and the Trump investigations continued to make headlines.
So opposition leader Rahul Gandhi hugged PM Narendra Modi and all hell broke loose. Modi supporters thought it was disrespectful, unseemly and hypocritical; Congress supporters thought this was a display of large heartedness. Most people just thought that it was a fun day at office for most MPs who have a reasonably boring job otherwise.
Films such as Mulk, Karwaan, Badhai Ho, Manmarziyaan, Raazi, Adhadhundh succeeded at the box office. They entertained us, made us think and just told great stories. This year proved that people are interested in good cinema, not stars.
When Nike made ads with Colin Kaepernik, some were outraged; they even made a grand show of burning their Nike gear. Others applauded Nike's stand and pointed out that the brand already had the money of those who were burning their Nikes; it was a little like cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
A man will not marry a woman who comes to the mandap in jeans. Jeans cause PCOS. Also women who wear jeans give birth to autistic and transgender kids. Our politicians had these and other gems to share. Meanwhile far away in France, people were frowning upon Serena Williams’ catsuit.
The Indian Supreme Court struck down Section 377 of the IPC, decriminalising homosexuality and everyone celebrated. The Adhaar judgement was a significant victory for citizens’ right to privacy, which was declared to be a fundamental right. The archaic, hopelessly regressive adultery law was also struck down.
The world was examining the unspoken menace of male sexual harassment. Tanushree Dutta started a firestorm of accusations and some very significant outcomes. India finally had its #MeToo movement. Then when people started up about false accusations, people decided to put it all into perspective.
This year again, we spoke a lot about the idea of India and whether we wanted to embrace a diverse and inclusive India or whether we were OK with an India that is divided, suspicious and insular.
The name changing spree was seen by some as a kind of attempted historical purge. For others it acted as inspiration for some hilarious memes.
India’s women cricket players forced us to pay attention to them – for the best reasons possible!
There were plenty of celebrity weddings. Some seemed to have made headlines for the most extravagant; even obscene display of wealth; others inspired us with their simplicity. It’s been quite a year for headlines and it’s not even over yet! I wonder if there will be anymore funny, strange, sad, bizarreheadlines in the remaining one week of 2018?
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