Humour by Rehana Munir: Five bright sparks of 2022

From Messi’s magnetic feet to Webb’s starry surprises, the year had its highs

Taking stock is a tricky thing. But it helps if you decide to focus on the silver linings. Here’s a run-through of the best of the year that was as we walk very, very gingerly into 2023.

From movies and sports to music and science, 2022 had a lot to offer (Hexcode)

James Webb Space Telescope

If I had a rupee for every sunset image on my phone... I’d probably buy a phone with a camera that would take better images of sunsets. And so, like millions of other starry-eyed earthlings, I gasped in wonder at the most significant astronomical breakthrough of our time, in July 2022. According to NASA: “[The James Webb Space Telescope] will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.” Gasp. So far, the surreal images they’ve released have launched countless poems, art works and philosophical ruminations. For cheerful nihilists like myself, it’s like existential morphine. For the better adjusted, it’s still mind-blowing.

Messi’s World Cup

Even devout football atheists like myself have no choice but to believe. The pint-sized Messi has towered over an ethically questionable FIFA World Cup drawing the love and goodwill of millions. Along the way, there were other victories, too. Morocco making it to the semis—a first for any African side in the competition’s history—was inspirational in a primal way. Mbappé’s glorious run, including a hat-trick in the final, was as pulse-quickening as his indifferent response to Emmanuel Macron after France’s heartbreaking loss was amusing. In the end, Messi had his fairy tale ending on the podium, absurdly dressed in an Arabian Nights meets Hogwarts cloak. And then, for a few weightless moments, we were all Argentinian wizards.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Sri Lanka has been in the news this year, with its people rising against a corrupt power regime. As if to prove that there’s a lot more to Lanka than the reign of assorted dark forces, a novel rises over the bleak landscape, luminous as seven moons in a dark fantasy. If you know nothing about the troubled island, the novel—which opens in 1989—will be an eye-opening, jaw-dropping, stereotype-busting, mad romp through grim and grisly worlds. And if you’re a keen follower of the nation’s history, the result will pretty much be the same. Humour is everywhere in this Shehan Karunatilaka novel about a dead “war photographer, gambler and closet gay”, but it ranges from the sardonic to the macabre. Not the best beach read or weekend distraction, for sure. And oh. It won the 2022 Booker Prize, in case you needed more reason.

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Ordinarily, I’d’ve dismissed a science fiction adventure that flits hyperactively between multiple worlds, making an overarching philosophical statement while subjecting the audience to emotional whiplash. But in this strange and sublime film, the strategy works magnificently. It occurred to me while watching it that it could be nothing but a film even though it reflects the slick cutting of ’90s music videos and the lure of choose-your-own-reality computer games. Now, that’s a huge selling point in our era of format flexibility. Its plot is the perfect blend of the relatable and the bizarre: Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu battle serious mother-daughter issues in a multiverse of infinite possibilities. I’m envious of those who haven’t watched it yet!

Pasoori

Spotify Wrapped has been wooing us with its year-end lists, telling us who we’ve listened to and for how long in 2022. Their recaps are programmed to make us feel like music buffs, albeit under constant surveillance and judgment. So addictive—and slightly creepy. I’ve been predictably occupied with Leonard Cohen and The Beatles, Abida Parveen and Kishore Kumar—an elder millennial caught in a Boomer stereo. Spotify India’s own Top 5 for 2022 features Coke Studio Pakistan’s Pasoori. Ali Sethi and Shae Gill’s ubiquitous earworm uses the metaphor of doomed lovers to comment on the bittersweet (to use a euphemism) ties shared between India and Pakistan. I’ve repeatedly consulted Google on the Punjabi lyrics, but I get the sentiment fully. Pasoori. What a superbly desi word with a dual meaning: difficulty/conflict or impatience/haste.

Wish you all a pasoori-free New Year, except for the musical kind!

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From HT Brunch, December 31, 2022

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