Life is not all that bad: Monique Patel

November 25, 2016

The fourth Thursday in November is always celebrated as Thanksgiving in the United States and kickstarts holiday festivities. Interestingly in its incipient phase, Thanksgiving, just like Diwali, is originally believed to be a festival to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. In ancient times, it was about addressing the basics and the unknown. These festivals have morphed into big celebrations though the original reasons have now been forgotten. As a non-religious festival, Thanksgiving is probably more widely celebrated than Christmas and is also the busiest travel period.

As we go into another Thanksgiving season, let’s count what we have to give thanks for. We should thank all those who voted to leave Britain because if it had not been for them, Britain would not have rocked the world with Brexit. Assad needs to be thanked for ensuring he is single handedly helping relieve the burden of humanity on Mother Earth. His fellow leader, Erdogan needs to be thanked for showing Turkey endorses terror tactics too. We should thank the Russian leader, Putin for his conviction of how good things were back in the days, by trying to revive the good old Soviet Union era and showing off his bare chest while he is at it. We should thank the current President elect of the US that he does not show us his bare chest given how taken he is by the Russian leader. In fact, we need to thank Trump for showing us orange is the new black. And while on Trump, we need to thank the electoral college for proving they are more important than the voice of the American people, given Hillary is over 2 million votes ahead in the popular poll. But we need to be grateful because we now know it is fine to be sexist, misogynistic, xenophobic, anti-semitic, anti-immigrant and obnoxious. Many Americans who were suffering from discrimination can finally come out of the closet and show their true colours. Fie on people like the cast of Hamilton for not showing their gratitude and instead embarking on a political lecture. And how can we forget to thank Prime Minister Modi for ensuring India enters economic doldrums leaving him to pursue important policies to make India great again.

But apart from thanking these all powerful world leaders for their role in making the world a better place, we have many lesser leaders to thank like Barack Obama and Angela Merkel for their determined leadership in the face of world crisis. Canada’s Justin Trudeau for showing sensitivity is important in a leader and yes, eye candy helps. Shinzo Abe in Japan showed how easy it is to fix a major sink hole in the middle of a city in record time. Mark Zuckerburg is someone who needs to be thanked for giving the world a platform where fake and real news juxtapose, insulating us from reality. And talking about reality, Bruce aka Caitlyn Jenner needs to be thanked for showing courage about battling gender identity and talking about it on reality television. Maybe one day he/she will run for President and finally America will have a feMale in office. And talking about females, the Democratic National Party of the US needs to be thanked for at least breaking the ceiling and nominating a woman for the highest office.

Not to take away from our all-powerful world leaders, but there were other noteworthy events in 2016 worthy of our gratitude. Like the Nobel committee for recognizing Bob Dylan whose poetry has enthralled people for generations. Lin Manuel Miranda needs to be thanked for writing a human interest story performed on the biggest entertainment stage with sold out shows, regardless of steep ticket prices. J K Rowling needs to be thanked for helping Potter fans like me finally cut the umbilical cord by subjecting us to the Cursed Child. Columnist turned author Twinkle Khanna needs to be thanked for being a breath of fresh air in her candid revelations of life and living. Jungle Book, that classic book by Kipling was a beloved movie for children over the years and the remake was an even better reinforcement about unconditional love and coping with life. Talking about remakes, huge thanks to Farhan Akhtar for showing us how to botch up a second effort by making Rock on 2. I saw the movie to get over my Trumpression and left the theatre even more depressed.

Sarcasm and trite comments aside, it is Thanksgiving and keeping with the spirit, it is only right to acknowledge life is not all that bad. We are alive. We revel in nature, gourmandize on food, enjoy the company of friends and family, devour good books, immerse ourselves in amazing movies, listen to soul searing music, attend thought provoking talks and enjoy journeys with Bacchus.

Ofcourse, if the US elections had gone differently, I would have had an entirely different thanksgiving stand.