2010…. unforgettable year that was

As the curtains to the year 2010 is about to fall in about few days time I think back of the various events/incidents that have occurred during this year around the world and so too in my personal life that will remain in my thoughts throughout my lifetime.

 I can still remember welcoming 2010 along with my friends and neighbor in my flat drinking and dancing on the New Year eve last year and now the neighbor is not around… he is very much alive but as mentioned in one of my earlier posts he had a stroke and has left Oman as he could not continue his work due to lack of speech and difficulty in moving around. Life is uncertain and there are no doubts on that aspect as it is being proven to mankind now and again on a regular basis.

My mother who was severe diabetic had some sort of stroke in January and was bedridden from then on. She was an active woman all through her life till such time her eyesight (retinitis) was affected couple of years back. She still used to move around on her own even after her knee fracture and used to watch TV sitting just about couple of feet away from the screen. Once she was bedridden she was totally dependent on my father or the nursemaid we had hired for everything and this broke her heart and lost her will to live. She finally passed away on 31^st May , a relief from the misery she was undergoing each day of her life. Me and my immediate family miss her a lot…. Rest in peace Amma !!!

The world this year has witnessed the ravages of the nature in an unprecedented magnitudes killing scores of people around the world and billions of dollars losses to the affected countries. 7.0 Magnitude earthquake in Haiti, 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile, Volcano eruption in Iceland throwing up tremendous ash cloud which covered the whole of Europe thereby all air travel was canceled on the fear that the fly ash would crash the planes, Volcano eruption in Indonesia towards end August  created similar fear in South East Asia. Pakistan floods the worst in last 100 year leaving nearly 1/5^th of the country underwater and losses of staggering US $ 20 Billion. At the same time wild fires in seven regions of Russia due to searing summer heat created huge loss and toxic fumes to envelope most parts. A Severe snowfall over Europe this winter shut down most European airports. The surface transport also was affected due to snow on railway tracks. Both these created an utter chaos in Europe as travelers unable to reach their destination prior to Christmas with flights and surface transport not operating. 

There has been severe climatic conditions right through the year in various parts of the world and possibly cause of all these events could be because of the global warming. It is stated that the Arctic ice is melting slowly and its impact would have far reaching consequences to the very existence of the world.

One of the worst man made disaster in the history of the world is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Explosion in British Petroleum’s oil rig at Deepwater Horizon in Gulf of Mexico in April and the ensuing oil spill in the Gulf from the ruptured well head far reaching consequences to the eco system of the world and it was by far the biggest story of this year since millions of gallons of crude oil was spilling into the sea for over three months till the well head was capped some time in end of July. BP was embroiled in one of the worst litigation cases on this account and their CEO was asked to leave with huge severance package…must have been very relieved to take the package and leave the mess created !! 

There has been quite a few mining accidents around the world in China, New Zealand and Chile this year but the rescue of the miners from the Chilean mine will always remain in our thoughts for the effort put in by the nation and the world community. Cave in on 5^th August at San Jose Gold and Copper mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert trapped 33 miners nearly 2500 feet below the ground. The fate of these miners was unknown and rescuers were frantically drilling boreholes and sending down probes to check for survivors. 17 days after the collapse one of the probe came back with this message "Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33" (We are OK in the refuge, the 33) from that day onwards Los 33 became the nation number 1 priority and all out efforts were taken to rescue these miners. The initial bore hole was widened to send food, water, medicine and clothes to the trapped miners in addition to a video camera and a telephone line so that there could be communication with the relatives and the rescuers. Finally a bore large enough for an upright man to be lifted up reached the refuge shelter and the miners were brought to the surface after staying 73 day below the ground….. Worldwide people watched these trapped miners being brought to the surface and they were all instant celebrities and almost all of them were offered gifts from so many companies and clubs around the world in addition to the book deals and movie deals about their experience below ground.

The Football world cup this year at South Africa  had few success stories like  Waka Waka song by Shakira , Paul the Octopus an Oracle  who predicted the winners of the games, Vuvuzela a wind instrument similar to trumpet creating a very irritating noise famous.

  

Also 2010 saw Aung San Suu Kyi get her freedom from house arrest after 15 long years and I wrote about this in my earlier post. France expelled Roma gypsy from their country even though they are from European Union. Wikileaks posted sensitive US military documents on the net and scores of other sensitive documents for public to read and this created uproar in most government. The arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in London on a trumped up sexual assault charge filed by Swedish government stirred up web wars wherein hackers brought down few financial domains who had black listed Wikileaks. Not to forget the incidents and various scams in India…Commonwealth games scam, 2G scam, Encounter scams in Gujarat , Maoist problems in North and eastern part of India and so on… list is endless

We have seen quite an eventful year ……… goodbye 2010 as the eve of 2011 is approaching in few days time.Wishing all my friends and relatives a very happy New Year 2011 and I hope that the coming year has move positive events that will be remembered and lesser natural disasters!!!!