The last gasp of 2005 has enabled India to expect a rare spring of hope in 2006.

If Lalu's exit from the echelons of power in Bihar allowed the people there to breathe easy, Tendulkar's return to competitive cricket after a long and painful absence came like a whiff of fresh air for the then crisis-ridden Team India.

Besides, Salem's fall into CBI's hands, the end of the Reliance ownership dispute, and finally the Bombay High Court's approval of the demerger, the gunning down of dreaded dacoit Nirbhay Gujjar by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police, notorious poacher Sansar Chand's arrest by the Delhi Police Crime Branch -- all such episodes, not to leave out the Sensex boom, have only added to the strength of our New Year resolutions.