End of a dreary year

31st December, and the year is closing with the dark shadow of something called Omicron looming over us. A ‘tsunami’ of Covid, the so-called third wave, is about to crash over our heads, say the experts. Mercifully, even the experts believe that this wave will be of very short duration, maybe only a few weeks. I am only taking heart from the latest numbers. Over the last week, the number of new daily infections in Delhi has surged from 40-50 to 1300+, yet the daily death rate has remained constant for more than a month at 0-1 (today’s number is zero). Countrywide, over the same period, the infection rate has doubled, while the death rate has remained the same, or dropped slightly (today it was 220, while even a few days ago it was nudging 400). Make of that what you will.

I wish almost everyone – meaning everyone who has not made hay on a monstrous scale in the time of the pandemic – a much happier New Year. May divine wrath consume the other kind. I like to console myself with Holy Scripture: ‘The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small’.

There is a private diary in which I have been scribbling what I consider important events in my life every year since I went to school, meaning 1969. I wonder what my entries for 2021 would be?

Long-time readers, I should very much like to hear from you about your expectations from the new year.