New Year 2016

Friends,

As the New Year 2016 dawns, my family joins me in wishing you the very best. May your dreams come true and may you have a peaceful, healthy and prosperous life in the year ahead. Let me also thank all of you, who remembered to send us greetings in so many innovative ways.

Optimism should be the right note at this time, whether the past year was an unmixed blessing or not. As a family, we have had a generally pleasant 2015, with glad tidings from the different locations. Though we have not had an opportunity to get everyone together since December 2014, we met one way or the other and remained constantly in touch through the multiplying platforms available for virtual togetherness. Our children and grandchildren, the extended family, friends and colleagues gave us reasons to be proud of them.

I divided my time in 2015 between following international affairs, writing on them and trying to reform the higher education scene in Kerala. I devoted time also to my role as an evangelist of the IFS, interacting with many aspirants to the Civil Services. I have begun to see some of them doing extremely well in our missions abroad. My weekly television programme on foreign affairs has completed ten years. I traveled throughout the year, giving talks to diverse audiences on a variety of themes. Lekha spent her time in charity work, particularly running a short stay home for the sick and the poor.

The overwhelming sense in the year for India was that it was in the cusp of change in every area of activity, primarily because of a dynamic Prime Minister, who announced programmes and projects virtually every day. The unprecedented activism in foreign affairs has given India great visibility around the globe. Continuity, dictated by geopolitics, is a salient feature, but some bold initiatives may eventually lead to significant changes. The New Year may bring new surprises and it is hoped that they will be pleasant.

Kerala is gearing up for elections early in the New Year. The latest events and new coalitions make it difficult to predict the outcome. The record of the present Government is likely to prevail in the end.

Technology continued to grow dramatically in 2015, with new opportunities and challenges to the world. The New Year will usher in new products and processes, making digital literacy important for people of all ages.

We hear of revolutions everywhere and we can only hope that these will be peaceful and beneficial to mankind. Let us hope for a peaceful, non-violent world in the years to come.

We may not have kept all the New Year resolutions of last year, but now is the time to make new ones. One resolution we must make is to remain in touch as often as possible.

Warmly,

TPS

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