Lindsay Pereira: Looking back at bittersweet '16

Volunteers planting trees in Allahabad in July this year as part of the commitment India made at the Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 PicAPTo call 2016 an awful year would be like referring to BMC as an inefficient organisation Everyone knows it and the best way to deal with it is to keep ones head down and get on with the business of life We lost a lot of great artistes for a start Then there were terrorist attacks almost every month Donald Trump became one of the most powerful individuals on Earth and we wasted our final weeks of the year by standing in line for money that actually belongs to usThe saddest thing was what seemed like a rise of intolerance from all corners of the globe Hate triumphed be it in the form of rightwing groups winning elections abroad or doing their best to muzzle us here at home I didnt want to end on a depressive note though because I can always count on the government of India to perform that task far better So I decided to try and think about the good things that happened instead I assumed this would take me a few days considering the dearth of good news that appeared to come our waySurprisingly I did find more than a couple of reasons to smile starting with a rather inane ice bucket challenge that went viral at the start of the year Apparently the visibility that the challenge won for Amyotshyrophic Lateral Sclerosis a progressshyive neurodegenerative disease affshyshyecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord made it possible for more research funds to be raised on account of which a treatment is close to being found The Internet actually helped spread a positive message there for a changeIt was a good year for tigers too The number of big cats in the Sunderbans is healthy and rising with nine more tigers spotted over last years figures in the mangroves Given our appalling history of conservation and scant regard for flora and fauna this bit of information almost felt like a miracle There were also eight new animal species found in our country this year from the Khaires Black Shieldtail snake and Indian Dancing Tadpole to the vibrant Red Forest Crab and the rather astonishing Sorting Hat Spider reportedly named after the Sorting Hat in JK Rowlings Harry Potter seriesSomething astonishing happened in July in Uttar Pradesh 800000 volunteers reportedly worked for 24 hours planting 50 million trees along roads railway lines and on public land as part of Indias commitment made at the Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 to spend 6 billion on reforestation of 12 per cent of our land It could well be a Guinness World Record but what should make our rightwing brethren happy about this feat is that the previous record for most trees planted in a single day mdash 847275 mdash was set in 2013 by PakistanA recent Supreme Court judgement banning liquor sale on all state and national highways was the culmination of a fight that began almost two decades ago in the form of a PIL filed by a gentleman named Harman Singh Sidhu It started when at age 26 he was caught in a car accident that left him paralysed from the neck down He spent the next 20 years campaigning for road safety awareness and the fact that these highways may now be safer not just for drivers but also for innocent passengers is a testament to his dedication and commitmentIn November 95 of Std XII students appeared for their state board exams in Jammu amp Kashmir defying diktats from separatists against the reopening of schools and colleges that were forcibly shut for four months In more great news from that troubled region four boys aged between 17 and 19 from two villages a few kilometres from the Line of Control in Poonch district made history by making it to the Indian Institute of TechnologyKerala the first Indian state to adopt a transgender policy reportedly saw the opening of the countrys first transgender residential school Located in Kochi Sahaj International School was to be inaugurated yesterday and aims to provide transgenders security salvation and susshytshyainability Its a long road for other marginalised groups given our governments consistent regressive approach but this is a step in the right directionThe year 2017 will bring more of the usual of course from sadness and despair to stupid collective decisions that may make 2016 seem like a birthday party It may bring happiness too though so Im going to try and focus on that insteadWhen he isnt ranting about all things Mumbai Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet He tweets lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom