20 Things l will remember 2013 for

Disclaimer: These are my personal views (in no particular order) and only in context of our very own India.

1. Shiela Killer (Oh!)  I mean Arvind Kejriwal for making a dream come true. Who would have imagined him as CM of Delhi and that too as a singing CM? He swept Delhi and imagination of the nation. Huge burden on his shoulders as he walks into 2014
2. India’s mission to mars. I was in UK and everyone was talking about it. Felt so proud to be an Indian. For once Mangal was shubh
3. RaghuRam Rajan as RBI governor. He is a man over a billion people have expectations from. He showed the world he is a man of his own and will walk the right path. Ekla chalo raghu for in 2014 you may have a new master who will want Lakshmi puja before you present your policy
4. Who can forget the #Feku vs #Pappu debate? Young generation learnt a new word in ‘Shehzada’, though many still do not what it means including the prince himself
5. Supreme Court taking 2 steps back and disappointing millions of Indians by overruling the high court verdict on 377. What was heartening was straight men and women standing up for LGBT friends and family. India never turned gay / lesbian in last 4 years my lords so please pull out the ear plugs and listen to the Pope at least
6. Sachin Tendulkar first sportsperson to get a Bharat Ratna. Forget all the controversy and comparisons (Other may not have got it, but that was never was good enough reason not to give him). His speech was moving too and I got to meet him in person with my kids
7. Return of the Master. Infosys got NRN back and just let go of anyone who was someone at infy. Now they are the only one looking for a successor as all other companies got leaders from them
8. Rahul Gandhi for clearly telling us he got the wrong genes of the family. He made rolling up sleeves a joke. No leader today in corporate India uses the phrase anymore
9. For the Devyani case. No matter which side you are on , you will agree that for once India stood up to be counted for its citizen. Yet all this could not get Dr MMS to open his mouth, thus when Obama called him he did not say anything and Obama thought he was upset
10. For Deepika Padukone to reinforce the belief that practice makes perfect. She made bad dialogue delivery look good and set the screen on fire. She was the Actor of the year and got Ranveer to expose more than her in Ram- leela
11. Narendra Modi for sidelining LK Advani, outplaying Sushma Swaraj & Arun Jaitely, making selling tea next best profession and forgetting his history lessons. Confidence does that to you but remember overconfidence is not good. Every parent tells his kids that NaMo
12. Change in how we Indians protested. Whether it was post nirbhaya or post 377 overruling verdict. Indians learnt to make their opinion count emphatically by voicing their concerns through candle light vigil, water cannons or lathi Charge. We made twitter and facebook have a special IPO is another matter altogether
13. Indian TV coming of age with 24 and US shows first premiering on Indian screens. Not to forget Kapil Sharma who made India laugh once again post the saas bahu tears had dried up
14. Hindi and other regional writers being translated in English. Sachin Kundalkar’s Cobalt Blue a book is a must read. There are many more gems like Crowfall etc. Only thing to remember is these books are not available in languages they were written in for a common Indian reader
15. New Companies act: CSR piece is a great start. Both Cong & BJP can now get corporate to focus on building toilets in India 
16. Orissa for showing the world we too can manage a natural calamity like ‘Phalin’. Take a bow Naveen Patnaik. Uttranchal was a our way of saying we still have a lot to learn
17. TV channels / anchors for making shrill fashionable, making everything news, for telling us how all of them can break same news at the same time and even getting same person on the same live show at 2 different channels. India wants answer why media did not raise question on the biggest car accident of the year even when it was in papers and internet
18. Akhilesh Yadav for being the best son of the year. He never did anything without asking his fathers, uncles, relatives and anybody who was somebody in UP. He rose every time to fall at his elders feet asking for blessings and direction like a good Indian son. This son (sorry) sun is all ready to set  in backdrop of communal riots in the state
19. For making global companies sell mobiles on EMI. Apple and Samsung went chota packet way to sell more
20. Indian electorate for ensuring that good governance wins over Incumbency. They have matured and have started making their vote count. Fooling politicians is an art and Indian voter is getting quite good at it. Watch the race for 2014 , its going to be the biggest potboiler of the year