Wednesday, January 24, 2007

A-A-A returns

Amar may or may not be travelling, Akbar may or may not be depressed, and Anthony may or may not be in love — but the technical reasons that caused our hiatus over the past few weeks have now been resolved, and we have returned from the armpit of the world (where there is no electricity, let alone internet). Amar has posted, and will continue to post, his peripatetic exploits. And Akbar has presented another edishon of garajti khabrein. Allow me to revisit my 2006 predictions.

Of the 10 predictions, the last one was that many of the predictions would be wrong. It turns out that only one of the predictions was outright wrong: Democrats did win the mid-terms. A few cases were partially correct. Ponting scored a lot of runs, but Tendulkar didn’t do much, and India did win in the Caribbean. Economists’ governments fared well in Desh, but Mrs Zia completed her term. Arrest of top Al Qaeda operatives or a rise in protectionism didn’t turn out to be a major news items. And neither of the remakes mentioned made to the silver screen last year, though the one we didn't mention did. Of the ones that turned out to be correct, calling Brazil’s World Cup performance right was the most satisfying.

Right, that was 2006. What about 2007? Let’s start with the easy ones: Iraq and the economy.

  • Iraq will continue to be a violent place, but American troops won’t be withdrawn in any significant numbers.
  • World economy will continue to enjoy robust, albeit moderating, growth.

What about politics and economy closer to home?

  • Desi economies will continue to grow at a historically rapid pace, and economists’ governments (now there is one even in Bangladesh) will usher some needed reforms.

Enough of the boring stuff. What about sports and movies?

  • Scorsese will continue to be the major filmmaker since Robert Altman to have never won the Best Director Oscar.
  • Australia will win the World Cup, but India will shake them at the end of the year.

And on personal note, A-A-A will continue to be travelling/depressed/in love.