10 Reasons To Be Happy In 2016

After a year that was bookended by tragic terror attacks and dire climate change, Liesl Goecker went looking for some silver linings.

- Liesl Goecker

1. BOOKS WILL OUTLIVE US ALL

For years now, we’ve heard about the impending death of books at the hands of TV, the internet, Charles Sobhraj. But according to the Nielsen India Book Market Report 2015, we need to stop overreacting. India is the sixth-biggest book market in the world and expected to nearly triple in size in the next five years. In 2016, there will be a surge in regional-language and self-publishing. Chiki Sarkar, ex-publisher at Penguin Random House India who now runs her own online publishing start-up, Juggernaut, slays the rumour, “In India, going digital has become a way to deal with massive infrastructure problems in physical publishing and offers an opportunity to learn more about readers and market books better than ever.”

2. WE’RE A COUNTRY OF GOOD SPORTS

In 2015, the sporting world was rocked by match-fixing and doping scandals, but Indian athletes have given us reason to stay starry-eyed. Sania Mirza continued dominating doubles tennis, and Saina Nehwal became the world’s top female badminton player. India won a test match in Sri Lanka for the first time in 22 years, and the national women’s field hockey team qualified for the Olympics for the first time in 36 years. In just two years, the Hero Indian Super League has moved football fans from the sofa to the stadium, and become the fourth-biggest league in the world. Love all.

3.  WERE MAKING IT UP TO MOTHER NATURE