Here in 2022, are we really back in 2009?

Is the world experiencing a strange return to the year 2009? Some signs simply can't be ignored. After the latest electoral victories of Luiz Lula da Silva and Benjamin Netanyahu, Brazil and Israel will have the same president and prime minister they had in 2009. In the US, the familiar figure in 2009 of Joe Biden is in the saddle, the shift only being his elevation from vice-president to president in the intervening 13 years with an orange patch of wilderness in between. Here in India, too, the signs are unmistakable. We had the first woman president in Pratibha Patil then; we have the second woman president in Droupadi Murmu now. In 2009, China became India's largest trading partner in goods for the first time. This July, it once again got to that spot - despite the usual sounds made by both countries - by overtaking the US.

The partial superimposition of 2009 on to 2022 has also thrown up some matters for concern among wonks. If the T20 World Cup in 2009 had Pakistan as champions, would India's chances to lift the trophy over the next week grow dimmer? Also, it seems that formal wear for men and informal wear for women at the workplace, both top trends in 2009, are making a comeback. The question that is on everyone's mind, of course, is if the reimplementation of 2009 is, indeed, happening, will 2008 or 2010 follow as we heave ahead?