2018: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

In one way, it was a hell of a year. And yet, in tune with looking at most years in retrospect, it was a hellish year. A lot of our scrolling time was taken over by the Indian #MeToo movement making all the right noises, the news of Section 377 being read down (woohoo!), and celebrity weddings with budgets-gone-bonkers. It was kinda spectacularly miserable as well, with bhakts, bros and the biggest boner the world has ever seen, all unleashed on us in quick succession. When Oxford Dictionary chose ‘Toxic’ as the word of the year, they kinda got it bang on.

To make sense of it all, we invited some of our favourite people, whose works we admire, to share their best and worst bits about 2018. Turns out, celebrities are kinda just like us in our hating and loving.

Yay: Firstly, #Metoo was a watershed moment hopefully leading to a generational change, but it also lay bare how appalling the status-quo really is. Also, BJP losing the elections where citizens wrestled some democratic agency back but expected BJP to take it up a notch for the 2019 elections.

Nay: Some of the accounts from #MeToo were absolutely devastating and present how bleak the situation really is. Also, our heading towards a right-wing polarisation, increased surveillance of ‘anti-nationals’, and louder chants for Mandir Yahin Banega.

Yay: A bachelorette trip with my closest girls, marrying my best friend, leaving for a shoot right after the wedding, followed by a European honeymoon, and then the release of Mirzapur (having our own GIFs was definitely a very high point).

Nay: I have no worst moments. The year has been too kind to me.

Yay: When the Khabar Lahariya Editor-in-Chief Meera Devi, a woman beyond admiration, said that men had stopped sending porn videos, blue films and morphed photos to female journalists on WhatsApp. This was followed by the map of India which lit up in areas where #MeToo had spread and rural India wore a bold twinkling red. While it came belatedly to India, #MeToo was truly a case of better late than never. Hell with the naysayers; for the first time in our country, women were speaking up and more importantly being heard. Now, when we speak of fighting the good fight of gender equality, we can move beyond preaching to the converted to converting the preachy. Nay: From being drugged to being gang-raped by men who wanted to satisfy their ‘lust’, to being strangled to death in two horrific attempts. Her tiny withered body was dumped in a forest, and seven-year-old Asifa was treated to inhumanity which was unimaginable. Her perpetrators have not been punished even though it was the worst crime ever. This country has a culture of granting impunity to rapists, murderers and sexual assaulters. It shows us that the image of progress cannot be used as a counterfoil for the reality of regression.

Yay: My heartbreak motivated me to pack my bags and travel the world. This year, I did everything I’ve always been dying to do. I climbed Machu Picchu, went to Peru, learned salsa in Cartagena Colombia, and explored Pablo Escobar’s homes in Medellin. I travelled to Istanbul, Scandinavia and twice to Switzerland. I did everything I was afraid of, including staying by myself in a water villa in the Maldives for a week.

Nay: Discovering on Valentine’s Day that my boyfriend of four years who I was about to marry was having an internet affair.

Yay: The best thing about 2018 was when Nicki Minaj dropped her new album Queen.

Nay: Everything else apart from Nicki Minaj’s album.

Yay: Parts of Section 377 have been scrapped. We still might have miles to go before marriage equality becomes a thing, but the fact that homosexual relationships are no longer a crime in the country is the pot of gold at the end of a really bright rainbow. Nay: Celebrity Weddings. It’s all A-okay, but the media coverage for all of it was just downright depressing.

Yay: Obviously, writing for and directing the Netflix series Ghoul. It had such a great release and a lot of people seemed to enjoy it.

Nay: The non-stop renovation work taking place in and around my apartment building. It’s like some The Truman Show conspiracy to try and gradually drive me insane. I have contemplated buying a sledgehammer and knocking my walls down but haven't reached this level. I feel a little like the woman in the Roman Polanski film Repulsion. Also, my kitchen has been destroyed by termites.

Yay: I love to travel and my work made my dream come true and I ended up travelling and living in different places. This year I shot a Hindi film in Lucknow, a web series in Mussoorie, and a British series in London and then Jaipur. There were all extremely fulfilling experiences where I met incredible people. I exposed myself to so many different things especially living in London and working there, which was my first international shoot experience.

Nay: I don’t think I have been able to balance being busy between shoots and taking care of myself in terms of being disciplined about eating well or working out regularly. So that’s something I want to be better at—managing my time so that I have more energy at the end of the day.

Yay: The reading down of Section 377. It was a monumental moment for us as a society. Our judicial system decriminalised “unnatural offences” and paved the way for a better and equal future.

Nay: The rising pollution levels in the capital, which made me realise how real and critical environmental changes are. We all need to take an active role in curbing the issue before it gets worse.

Yay: Getting a second fridge which means more space to hoard delicious food. Also, VICE India approaching me to host the show Kabhi Sushi Kabhi Shalgam alongside Urooj. It was exciting and a totally new experience for me.

Nay: Having Long Island Iced Teas.

Yay: The Supreme Court’s verdict on Section 377 was the main highlight. Finally, the Indian Constitution is taking a progressive stance on important issues. More things are happening now for the queer community than before.

Nay: Sambit Patra happened to this country. He was on our TV screens just giving bold talks about the political party he is a spokesperson for. Most people who are sane would not take him seriously but it is surprising what he is doing and how people are blindly following his talks. He should be stopped. A few guys should be banned from this planet and he is one of them.

Yay: The best thing that happened to me was that my film— Love Per Square Foot —released this year .

Nay: The one catastrophe that hit me very hard was the gruesome beheading of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir. When I read that news story, just the thought of it visually was tear-jerking.

Yay: A lot of interesting things happened judicially that were really amazing. The best was that Section 377 was read down, and I think that has and will continue to have an interesting impact culturally on our society.

Nay: The deaths that have occurred because of lynch mob attacks and the trial-by-mob mentality that has encouraged citizens to take the law in their hands. I hope these stop because in a progressive society, there’s no place for violence and murder perpetrated by blind hatred.

Yay: Ariana Grande's song “thank u, next” and well, my BEDx Zine, which is a collaboration with designer Rushil Bhatnagar.

Nay: The #MeToo stories that we had to read and acknowledge where the men we so hugely idolised had been perpetrators of the oppression. The men so vehemently pretended to detest the accusations. It was an incredibly taxing period and called for so much trauma to be addressed. I think that was also the best part because it taught us so much and called for bonding and sisterhood.

Yay: Personally, my travels to Montenegro, Canada, Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Kerala and Rishikesh. Generally, Section 377 being scrapped. Here's to more progressive judgements. Also, Wildlife SOS opened its first elephant hospital in India + the #MeToo movement for at least bringing about awareness about how many women are violated daily.

Nay: Personally, having two of my immediate family members in the hospital at the same time. Generally, there is a complete disregard for mother nature. For instance, unnecessary deaths of wildlife, elephants on railway lines, Avni the tigress, the Aarey issue, etc. Also, horrific rapes are still happening.

Yay: My throwback moment of this year and also the best thing that happened in my life— the debut of my single release "Underscore". Also, I heaved a sigh of relief after the decriminalisation of Article 377. The #MeToo activism gave a voice to many women, but didn’t invoke any action. Lastly, Kendrick Lamar, my favourite artist, won the Pulitzer Prize for DAMN.

Nay: Getting affected by GST and its horrors. Also, the passing of many incredible individuals, one being my dearest grandpa.

Yay: All the celebrity weddings that took place. I surprised myself with how interested I was in all the photos and videos that surfaced on Instagram. Just like a typical aunty who is interested in what the bride was wearing, I was keen on what they would wear for D-Day.

Nay: Pollution emitted from plastic has been known to humankind for years. But in 2018, it hit me how much damage it has caused to the planet, when so many stories flooded my timeline. The photographs of plastic in the ocean and how they affected mother nature were very hard-hitting.

Yay: NDA losing in the current elections. And watching great TV content like Atlanta, Sharp Objects, American Vandal and Midnight Diner.

Nay: The government giving a part of Aarey (forest, in Mumbai) to private builders. Personally, I did not fulfil any of my resolutions, I have put on more weight and have become more anxious than the previous year.

Yay: People are taking a stand on social issues. CRISPR/LIGO/LHC created some of the best intriguing moments of 2018 for us as a species; if you don’t know what they are, Google is your friend. Parle-G is still legendary every year. The #MeToo movement in India cannot just be a spark; we need to provide an environment where more victims can speak out. Personally, I had the pleasure of being in Cannes twice, Locarno, Sundance, TIFF, London and Berlin with my films, Manto and Titli. Everyone was saying that Nawazuddin and I are the two actors whose films have gone to Cannes, so that was great.

Nay: Firstly, murders of journalists who were merely doing their job and the government perhaps being involved in this. This year, lynchings in our country have become an everyday occurrence and nobody bats an eyelid. In Bollywood, more like Bolly-Poo, everyone is going for mediocrity. They know the art of making 150 crores from shit cinema in a matter of months. The film creators have proved it time and again in 2018.

Yay: After being in the podcast space for three years, 2018 was the year I independently produced and distributed two shows: My indie music podcast Maed in India (oh yeah, indie gal doing an indie show about indie music) and Pooja Dhingra's podcast NoSugarCoat. Both the shows featured in Apple's pick for Best Podcasts of 2018. (Whoop Whoop! Party in the house!).

Nay: The Kerala floods. The natural disaster took a devastating toll on a place I call home. Thankfully, the area that I'm from, Thiruvalla, was not badly submerged; however, it was caged in by water-logging in the surrounding areas with no way for people to get out or for anything to come in. Sadly, my grandmother was alone in our family home and there was no way in which my family or any of us grandchildren could come to her rescue. Being so far away in Mumbai, left me feeling helpless as I got news from friends, family, and the media of the destruction, stories of loss and tragedy that ensued.

Yay: The best news has to be the one passed on September 6, when Section 377 said bye bye. Love is love!

Nay: The worst news was tax money blown up to make the Statue of Unity. Like the WORST. That money could have been used for wayyy better things.

Yay: The #MeToo movement was great. I’m glad so many people felt like they could come out and speak up.

Nay: At the same time, reading all the call-outs and what people have been through on social media was really triggering for my mental health. Twitter should come with a trigger warning.

Yay: I took up yoga and it’s the best thing that’s happened to me. I’m more flexible and feel detoxified thanks to it.

Nay: Seeing headlines of so many great personalities passing away, from Avicii to Anthony Bourdain.

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