A new year - hopes, perspectives and opportunities

2020 has been a tough year for most of us which brought a ton of challenges and un-foreseen enigmas for humanity to solve.

While writing this note I was also thinking about how resilient we as human beings are, even in the worst of times and facing nastiest calamities. There is no doubt this year revealed a lot of personal losses, miseries, in-equalities, lack of fairness and loopholes in the systems we as societies designed over last decades (and even centuries), however on the bright side there was a lot to cherish as well.

I think we should treasure our resilience, countless ways in which people helped others in need this year, new discoveries made, kindess we witnessed in ways unprecedented and lastly how quickly we all adopted to a “new normal” in our lives (not matter with a lot of imperfections) and worked our ways through this challenging year.

Entering in 2021 even with all the doubts and anxiety, I am sure we all have some hopes, opportunities and new perspectives which interestingly took shape on what has happened across the globe over last year.

Hopes and Opportunities

Hope is what keeps us going, right? This is true in many aspects. I will reflect on some thoughts around hopes and opportunities personally I see linked 2021 (and time will tell if I am being over-optimistic).

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.”

Emily Dickinson

My hope from the new year is that finally (and most possibly around end of year), we will get back to some sort of normalcy in our lives for the most part. Having said that, and also being an immigrant myself from a developing region, I clearly foresee a lot of humungous challenges poor and developing regions of the world will still be facing as the populations in developed and wealthy regions go back to normalcy for the most part hopefully around end of 2021. Let's work in our capacities to not forget about less fortunate than us when we do return to normalcy, the same normalcy "all of us"deserve!

In terms of opportunities I believe, 2020 provided all of us a break to ponder on “current state”. Hopefully, this reflection will lead us to eventually work towards developments in several facets we as individuals, societies and professionals must try to do. First and foremost, take example of sustainability or climate change for instance. I believe we need to do a lot here for being able to not ourselves a “huge disappointment” for forthcoming generations and the world we want to leave behind us.

Opportunities in Technology and how we can use Technological innovations for doing good leads us boundless realms.

In 2020, businesses across the globe struggled with how they could operate successfully and efficiently while having their employees working remotely. Remote work is something which will likely stay longer with enterprises around the globe and why not? It has tangible benefits in terms of costs, ease and flexibility for both employees as well as employers for the most part. Technology can do a lot and in fact the boundaries are endless however I also want to reflect on opportunities we as individuals (or even in corporate capacities) have to appreciate diversity, difference of opinion, improving on ideals of fairness and equity everywhere to create a culture where everyone feels safe, included and treated equitably.

I truly wish everyone who reads this note a safe and happy new year.

May this year be filled with “hope” and “opportunities” for you. May we all work towards the ideals of equity, fairness and a resilient future not just for those around us but for everyone.

Happy Holidays and hope to interact with you all in 2021!