Is 2012, A year of doom, or a year of hope?

With Doomsday speculated on December 21, 2012, New Year 2012 promises to have a lot in store.

Theoretically speaking, if world had just one more year before ending, won't we be doing things a lot differently? Wouldn't our focus be a whole lot different?

The 2012 phenomenon has been talked over for years. The Mayan calendar predicts catastrophe and widespread natural disaster which will bring about end of the world on December 21, 2012.

There have been similar prophecies by Nostradamus and movies on this subject have attracted much publicity to this event.

A large number of natural calamities that happened over past one year may lend credibility to these predictions. The unforgettable pictures of Japan's tsunami (where giant waves swept away cars like toys and a yacht perched atop a building), hurricanes (so common place that they are now chronologically documented with rotating alphabetic names), and earthquakes in Turkey and Oklahoma suggest that world boundaries and topography are undergoing a distinct change.

I will admit that these are terrible thoughts to begin a New Year with. But think about it, if we all begin to live for the moment, as if there was no life after this year, maybe we will put our best foot forward and new realizations may dawn.

Rather than focusing on negative aspects of the forecasts, we can turn it on its head and look at it as a year of hope, a year full of optimism and opportunities to make the world a better place.

If there was a realisation that the world is going to end, scams and political loot would stop. The monies would be spent on development of telecommunication, infrastructure and in rural employment schemes.

Anna Hazare would be spared of torturing his already frail body. Lokpal and Lokayukta Bills would not have to be debated for months on end.

People would focus more on the finer aspects of living and less on mad rush. There maybe even a shift from being materialistic to being altruistic.

The world would be a secure and joyful place.

Security concerns would be low on priority and countries would not have to be gripped by single largest manhunt across rough terrains half across the world.

TV channels would not spend days recounting silent military operation that finally caught and killed Osama Bin Laden.

The grotesque pictures of bare-chested and badly bruised Mohammad Gaddafi been dragged on the floor would not have to be telecast repeatedly.

Millions of dollars would not have to spent on trading of armaments and sophisticated weapons to defend nation's territories.

If the world had just one more year to end, people would not defer acts of goodness.

People would focus on strengthening their relationships and ties, by not holding back words of sympathy, forgiveness or love.

The predictions of the Mayan calendar and Nostradamus invite a lot of debate. Several predictions made by the latter have arguably fallen through.

Without focusing on accuracy of these predictions, it may not be a bad idea to just focus on living for the moment, as the ancient Indian scriptures have so often preached.

by Manjula Pooja Shroff dnaindia.com

Read Also → Is 2012, A year of doom, or a year of hope?

World WON'T end in 2012. Don't panic!

Many consider it a joke although others are scared we might never live to see next year thanks to the Mayan calendar’s ‘apocalyptic’ prediction.

But Mayan expert Leonzo Barreno, of Saskatchewan, Canada, says the ‘apocalypse’ concept is a false interpretation of the Long Count calendar.

The University of Regina journalism professor said Mayan elders taught him that December 21 this year simply marks the start of a new calendar.

Mr Barreno, who immigrated to Canada from Guatemala 23 years ago, was trained by Mayan elders to read the calendars, reported CBC News.

‘There are two sides to the story,’ he told CBC. ‘The one that we know is this apocalyptic meaning that has been given to the Long Count.

‘The other side of the story is the Mayan side, which you rarely see on media articles, because they never interview my own people.’

He said Mayan people are featured for just five seconds of the film 2012, starring John Cusack, which is loosely based on their 'predictions'.

‘When I grew up during my training I never hear the word “end of the world” from the elders or spiritual leaders,’ Mr Barreno added.

‘For them it’s a joyous event, not an apocalyptic event. What is coming is the end of a calendar and the beginning of a new one.

‘It’s cyclical,’ he told CBC. ‘This has happened before. According to the elders it’s the fifth time it’s happened.’

Inscriptions in Tortuguero, Mexico, refer to Bolon Yokte 'descending from the sky' in 2012 - a god associated with war and the underworld.

Last month German expert Sven Gronemeyer said it may be a misreading and added he also believes it is simply a calendar change

Mr Gronemeyer said his decoding of a Mayan artefact with a reference to a 2012 date shows a transition to a new era in the 5,125-year calendar.

Bolon Yokte is a figure also associated with change. Many Mayans also dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea.

In November Mexican anthropologists said a second inscription with the 2012 date was found on a brick at the Comalcalco ruin, near the Tortuguero site.

But experts doubt the second inscription was a definite reference to the date cited as the possible end of the world, as it has no future tense.

Read Also → World WON'T end in 2012. Don't panic!