A-Z of 2022: The Year That Was

A- Airport hai…yaa fish market? Our sympathies are with those who navigated the airport chaos during the holidays.

B- Boycott Bollywood. Whether it was Kareena Kapoor Khan’s straight up answer to nepotism allegations during the promotions of Laal Singh Chaddha to the song in Pathaan, Bollywood could not escape the #boycott tag.

C- Cannes honours India. With the first Country of Honour record to her name, India made history at Cannes.

D- Digital mania. NFTs, Crypto, Digital Rupee…2022 was all about the rise of the machines.

E- Elon Musk takes over Twitter. And what followed can be best described as tempest in a tweet!

F- FIFA spins magic and writes history. Messi brings the World Cup home for Argentina after 36 years in a thrilling finale.

G- Goblin Mode, Gaslight become words of the year. If you blamed your SO for stray socks and dirty dishes, then you need to look these two terms up.

H- Housefull at celebrity Diwali parties. After a hiatus of two years, tinsel town was buzzing again during Diwali celebrations and all eyes were on #whoworewhat.

I- India gets G20 Presidency. In a historic move, the G20 Leaders’ Summit will take place in New Delhi with a participation from 43 Heads of Delegations — the largest ever in G20.

J- Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard. The kabhi haan kabhi naa rollercoaster of a divorce trial kept everyone hooked.

K- K-Pop group BTS takes a break, breaks hearts. In June, Korean pop music band BTS disbanded so citing individual interests and members embarking on solo quests.

L- Love 21. As Roger Federer retired after 24 years of glorious tennis, his greatest rival Rafael Nadal bid him an emotional farewell. The teary-eyed photos melted hearts.

M- Motherhood. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt, Sonam K Ahuja, Bipasha Basu Singh Grover, Kajal Aggarwal welcomed their Mini Mes.

N- Nude Dude. Ranveer Singh’s photoshoot broke the internet.

O- Oscar slap. Chris Rock took a potshot at Jada Smith which didn’t go down well with her husband, Will Smith, who in turn smacked Rock across the face. Oh, imagine the elephant in the room at the Oscars after-party.

P- Picture-perfect. A campaign shot for a luxury fashion house between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over a chess board marked an iconic moment in sports history, only to be later revealed that it was shot with the two separately.

Q- Queen’s reign comes to an end. 70 years, 15 Prime Ministers, 14 USA Presidents, 7 popes, 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren later, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary died on September 8.

R- Return to normalcy. Public events like India International Trade Fair, India Art Fair and Jashn-e-Rekhta open up as Covid offers some respite.

S- Smog shog. Shrouded in a cover of smog and fog, Delhiites once again battled with poor air quality and low visibility.

T- Tragic losses. With deaths of KK, Lata Mangeshkar, Bappi Lahiri, Sidhu Moosewala, the year was marked with sadness for many.

U- Unsurprising OTT surge. Thanks to lockdowns and next to zero censor curbs, OTT emerged as a strong alternative, or rather challenge to the Box Office.

V- Vile food combinations. Butter chicken ice cream, chai noodles, gulab jamun chaat… for the last time, stop this naan-sense.

W- Who let the dogs out? This was the question on everyone’s — from RWAs to dog owners to dog feeders — minds. Horrifying cases of real life Man vs Wild propelled all parties to come to an amicable solution.

X-X Factor. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who were once dating in Y2K years only to split up, got married, rekindling hope in estranged lovers that the spark can be found again.

Y- Y this north-south cinema divide? Actors and filmmakers from the Hindi film industry and various South Indian film industries came together to proclaim One India, One Film Industry.

Z- Zubaan sambhaal ke. President Joe Biden mispronounces Rishi Sunak as Rashi Sanook and we shouldn’t keep calm.

Interact with Etti Bali at @TheBalinian

For more, follow @htcity