When the ‘Year 2021’ Says “APOLOGY,” Should We Accept It or Reject It?
Yesterday, I met “2021,” and I want to say it outright — things got messed up.
2021 looked somber and guilty. I asked, “What’s the issue?”
The extremely polite and dejected 2021 told me how it disrupted the lives of millions of people, directly and indirectly — how it brought an abrupt “THE END” to so many innocent lives.
I was silently listening to his words until I couldn’t bear it any longer. I was seething with anger and eventually shouted, “So why are you here now? What do you want to say? We have moved past 2021! It’s 2025, and just a few days away from the start of 2026!”
What We Discussed
Listening to all my angry rants, 2021 replied softly, “I know the entire universe will never forgive me. But it was not intentional. I hadn’t even imagined, in my wildest dreams, that this new millennium, starting from 2000 AD, would face such a terrible human crisis in just two decades. I tried everything possible to help people feel safe. When 2020 was about to end, many believed that with the new year, the Covid crisis would vanish. But the future kept getting darker as 2021 moved from January to February to March, and so on. We reached a situation where the first thing people did every morning was check the Covid Meter — recoveries, deaths, and active cases.”
After listening to 2021’s words for a few minutes, my memory drifted back to those days.
When I look back, all I can do is fold my hands before the Almighty (whoever you believe in, as per your faith and understanding) and pray — please, never let the world suffer another pandemic.
The COVID-19 was enough.
In truth, it transformed many lives — some for better, some for worse. For the first time, I saw newborn children lose both parents to the virus. I saw attendants outside hospitals ready to trade lakhs for a single cylinder of oxygen. The saddest part of it all was when even crematoriums overflowed with the dead.
I have nothing more to say. But as almost four years have passed, do you remember when Corona first made the news? Yes, it was November 2020 — though it started in China earlier. Once it spread through the air, devastation followed everywhere.
So, 2021, you can only ask for forgiveness from everyone — because that year was devastating for one and all. On one hand, people were losing jobs; on the other, lives. Most of us — not all — were losing hope. With no livelihood or solution in sight, many fell into dark phases of depression with no exit point.
In Conclusion
So, my final words to 2021…
“You might have been just another year, but the coronavirus crisis completely overshadowed you. Whatever it was, it was indeed a devastating year. But as we always say — time heals everything. After more than a thousand days since the crisis of 2021, I can only say: APOLOGY ACCEPTED.
We can’t hold a grudge forever because time keeps moving — and so do we.
At least the year 2021 had the courage to step forward and apologize. Not every difficult time does that. Some just leave their scars and move on — quietly, without a word.”
At least you had the courage to face us. Most years pass silently, never looking back.
You reminded us that even after chaos, life finds its rhythm again. And maybe that’s what forgiveness truly means — learning to live again, without fear of the calendar.
