On the last day of every year while it is customary to look back and muse how the days had been, for 2020, it will be better not to repeat this almost-involuntary habit. This is since it will only be a saga of immeasurable pain for losing so many of the near and dear ones due to a virus named corona. 1.79 million and still counting in the whole world with India’s share being nearly 1 lakh and 50 thousand. The pandemic actually took the entire humanity completely off guard and it made no difference whether the nations were rich or poor. The most advanced countries in terms of medical science like the US, UK and the entire continent of Europe had been the victims and such a helpless situation was never seen except at times of world wars. For India, the pandemic has more been an economic catastrophe than a health disaster and among all the lockdowns exercised across the world, here it has been the harshest. But, as the old and time-tested proverb goes that there remains a silver lining in every occasion, however depressing and prolonged it might be, the vaccine, under the current backdrop is the one that promises it. Except this, there is hardly any accompanying ray of hope amid the ubiquitous  darkness- it’s the truth of the moment that few can counter.

Coming to India’s fightback against the pandemic, it will not be an amplified criticism to say that the first-hand tool in its containment i.e. the lockdown(s), particularly the first phase was not properly planned and there were no serious attempts either to weigh its pros and cons. It’s still hard to believe how a four-hour notice can be clamped on a 130-crore population with millions in it comprising migrant workers scattered in the nook and corners of the vast land, far away from their homes. The country and the world have seen how devastating it has been and in any round-up of year 2020, pictures of these helpless and impoverished men, women and children walking along the highways and railway tracks and many dying on the way will invariably form an inseparable component. It is a cruel irony that still the narratives of Aatma Nibhar Bharat or the 50-trillion dollar economy haven’t lost their edges and outreach on all available media platforms. It is better not to recount what the economy is now and how long will it take to wipe off the ‘minus’ sign that has been prefixed with the quarterly GDP figures. Arunachal, with all its limitations, thankfully has fought the pandemic well and it has only been possible due to people’s participation. Wherever the government machineries have failed to reach, the CBOs have filled the void with dedication and determination. There is hardly anything left to speak about the state’s political milieu as the same old story of changing jerseys after getting elected as people’s representatives has seen a repetition in this year and this has no vaccine-like remedy perhaps.

The lone ray of hope is the vaccine. Arunachal and the country must be successful in this challenge if 2021 is to be made a better time to live.