So this is a new year and what have we done?

As 2026 kicks in, what should we be celebrating? It’s a tough call, swamped as we are by toxic air, collapsing infrastructure and India’s largest airline going to pieces. Judging by the mess around us, it has been a dismal year and indications are the next will not be much better. Yet, we searched for a cheerful cover story to alleviate the gloom. It was cinema which came to our rescue. Unknown films from India have been basking in success at international film festivals. These filmmakers, many of whom are women, come from small-town India with real stories to tell.

It is the kind of bright spot to hold on to. Poor governance weighs heavily on us, but resilient and talented individuals offer hope and show that we can be world class. It makes us feel good.

Similarly, while cities are in a mess, yet there are some silver linings. A story we have been putting out thanks to Kirtee Shah’s webinars on urbanization has been about the Jaga Mission in Odisha cleaning up slums and getting slum dwellers land rights. It hasn’t made headlines and is not celebrated enough. But it is an example of what governments can do to make our cities not just more livable but inclusive as well.

So also the story from Karnataka, where doctors in district hospitals are being trained to be specialists. It has taken some years but 300 doctors have qualified in specialties that are needed in rural areas. Dr Alexander Thomas told us all about it in the Interview of the Month. Once again, as with the Odisha example, this is an outlier. But it is outliers which show the way forward.

In our Insights section, Sanjaya Baru questions Indian politicians making promises that will get fulfilled sometime in the future. What about here and now?

For all the year-round hype about India’s future, January nudges us to be true to ourselves. Let us face it, in India none of the hallmarks of a progressive and  modern economy are in evidence. The needle has barely moved on education, healthcare, transportation, housing, environment and public hygiene. The toxic cocktail that engulfs the capital is a stern reminder of the general collapse of cities big and small. If we can’t get urbanization right, what growth and development can we hope for? Monopolies flourish, as we have recently seen with Indigo’s shenanigans. Its glitzy board has shown no acountability. Flyers of course, but Indian consumers in general, are passed over.

Blame ourselves we must for we choose the people who represent us. Both opposition and government have performed dismally in addressing the things that matter. An MP of the Congress turning up in Parliament with a stray dog just to get attention must surely be the lowest point in an ongoing vaudeville.