Offices and schools made a phased transition to hybrid and full physical mode, people stepped out of their homes in masks and then without, and the wheels of economic activity started spinning against the tide of growth pessimism. Chennai even hosted the Chess Olympiad in July, a first for India and in Asia after three decades.
The hustings, a lifeblood of our democracy, regained their vigour in States and local bodies as the Bharatiya Janata Party defended a new citadel in Uttar Pradesh and an old one in Gujarat. As the electoral map shrunk of the principal Opposition party, Congress, its former president and still presumptive leader set out on a nationwide foot march whose political dividends only the future would tell.
The year had its share of tragedies, some the wrath of nature such as cloudbursts in Kashmir and floods in Assam, some a mix of ecological and human factors such as the Bengaluru lake breaches, and the rest purely man-made.
Through it all, what shone through was the resilience of a billion-and-a-half people. The Hindu’s lensmen captured all the high points of a year of cautious recovery.
Photos curated by The Hindu’s Photo Editor Dinesh Krishnan. Text by Abdus Salam.
Children stand in queue for certificate after vaccination at Subhash Excellence School during Special Covid-19 vaccination drive for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years in Bhopal on January 3.
Students arrive at Hindon Airbase after being evacuated from the conflict hit zone of Ukraine from Poland by the IAF C 17 Globemaster Aircraft in Ghaziabad on March 3.
An anxious girl looks for her parents waiting outside at SRV LP School in Kochi. After two academic years disrupted by COVID-19 closures, schools in Kerala reopened on a high note on June 1.
Smoke billowed out from a passenger train coach after it was set on fire by protestors during a protest against ‘Agnipath scheme’ for recruiting personnel for armed forces, in Secunderabad on June 17.
Santhal tribal women celebrating the nomination of its famous daughter-in-law — Droupadi Murmu — as NDA’s candidate for the Presidential election, in Pahadpur in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, on July 6.
Indian army soldiers carry body of cloudburst victim, at Baltal, 105 kilometers northeast of Srinagar, July 9 2022.
Paintings of Chess Board on Kamarajar Salai in Chennai. The 44th FIDE Chess Olympiad was hosted in India for the first time on July 28 and in Asia after 30 years.
Twin Tower was demolished with the help of explosives at Noida on August 28.
Outer Ring Road inundated due to various lakes breach, after heavy rains, near Bellandur, in Bengaluru on August 30.
The Dusserah festival in Kulasai, a small hamlet near Tuticorin, is a cult ritual which is celebrated to mark the killing of demon Mahisasuran.
Congress leader and former AICC president Rahul Gandhi, during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', from Rampura to Ballari in Karnataka on October 14.
A Muslim family wailed outside the residence of Puran Bhat, a Kashmiri pandit who was shot dead by militants in Gund area of Shopian district, in south Kashmir on October 15.
The century-old cable suspension bridge collapsed into the Machhu River in Morbi, Gujarat on October 31.
A five-member family from Kilinochi in the northern province of Sri Lanka reached the first islet off Danushkodi on November 24. The Marine police rescued and accommodated them at the Mandapam Rehabilitation Centre for Lankan Tamils after questioning. So far 214 Lankan Tamils have arrived Tamil.
Gujarat BJP supporters celebrate after vote counting concluded for Gujarat State Assembly Election at Kamalam, BJP Head Quarter in Gandhinagar on December 8.
