Dear Readers,

Looks like the Gods have been listening to all our prayers as life does seem to be, slowly but surely, crawling back to some semblance of what normal used to feel like. We must, however, keep our masks on, and other mandatory precautions going, because we are not yet completely out of the woods.

Compared to the previous year, one does feel a greater sense of both – hope as well as the festive spirit brimming within, just aching to be expressed in its fullest form of grandeur and merriment. Hopefully, we will bring in the New Year with much cheer, as we are wont to!

Even as we prepare to bid adieu to 2021, there is much reason for joy and celebration within the community, with our very own powerhouse of talent – the incomparable doyen of Parsi/Gujarati theatre, Yazdi Naoshirwan Karanjia, being awarded one of the nation’s top civilian honours – the Padma Shri for his unparalleled contributions in the field of the Arts – by the President of India, Ramnath Kovid, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, earlier this week. (Details on Pg. 8) Heartiest congratulations to Yazdi Karanjia, on behalf of the community, for continuing to enrich our lives with laughter and pride!

As we approach the end of the year, one which hasn’t come a second too soon, we feel relieved and grateful for having survived humanity’s long-drawn battle with the COVID-19 pandemic. With about half a dozen weeks remaining to 2021’s closing, this would be a good time to look back, review and reflect on our experiences over the past year, and how these have changed us and our lives. Maybe these can be our new guidelines in the new normal, which could help us revisit our priorities and our life-goals, to better fit into our renewed commitments based on our ample learnings, so that we can make 2022 truly better and meaningful.

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita