As one year draws to an end and the next comes upon us, it becomes almost fashionable for any self-acclaiming writer to list down the things she (or he) remembers the past year by.

In similar fashion, here goes my A-Z list…

Australia vs. Africa – The date: 12/03/06. The stage: The Wanderers, Johannesburg. A match of a lifetime. South Africa, riding on Gibbs’ thunderous 175, chased down an improbable victory target of 435 to create history and give us the best ODI ever.

Brangelina in Pune – Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie came to Pune to shoot for a movie and ended up threatening reporters, abusing students & parents, harassing the city’s residents and creating so much negative publicity that we were eventually happy when they left.

Chikun Guniya Terror – The country was gripped in the Chikun Guniya fever, with deaths being reported from all over the place. People were so scared that every mosquito seemed like the next death carrier.

Downfall of a Dictator – As the year was coming to an end, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death. And then one fine morning we woke up to the news of Saddam already being hanged to death, a hanging that was taken in joy by some and in sorrow by some.

Enough of Reality TV – Nach Baliye, Jhalak Dikhlaja, MTV Roadies, Bigg Boss, Mera Star Superstar, KBC… phew!

Fanna Controversy – Aamir Khan commented about the Narmada Dam. Narendra Modi didn’t like what he said and banned Aamir’s movie Fanna from releasing in Gujarat. All I can say is thankfully the controversy came after Rang De Basanti had released, otherwise we would have missed that too!

Gandhigiri – Lage Raho Munnabhai created waves throughout the nation and projected the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi in such a way that the Father of the Nation became Cool. The buzz now is that Gandhigiri Rocks, Dadagiri Sucks!

Hair-raising! – Aussie umpire Darrell Hair accused Inzy’s team of ball tampering. Inzy blew his top and walked out of the Oval Test. Hair then offered to retire, at a price, but was eventually ousted from the ICC’s panel of elite umpires. Good riddance!

In & Out & In – Sometimes he was in the team, sometimes he wasn’t. But Dada Ganguly was never outta the news. He even did a Pepsi commercial saying, “Jo hua so hua”, winning back sympathy or whatever. But finally, he returned and did pretty ok in Africa.

Justice for Jessica – Manu Sharma was acquitted and the entire nation cried foul. A fresh case was filled, and this time the Delhi High Court sentenced Sharma to life imprisonment. And the entire nation celebrated, finally some justice for Jessica.

Khan plays Bachchan – All year round, SRK filled in the Big B’s shoes, almost literally. From endorsing a couple of similar products and starring in the remake of Don to becoming the new host of KBC, it seems SRK wants to do everything the Big B’s done.

Love in the air – 2006 was a great for me as I met and fell in love with Hiral, got engaged to her, then married her and ended the year with our honeymoon.

Mahajan Tragedies – First the dad gets shot by his own brother, and then just as the family is trying to recover, the son gets arrested for an alleged drugs misadventure. And then the son gets married and is even reported as a wife-beater. What next?

Nonsense Vandalism – Protests and vandalism seem to be the latest in-things of today. The year saw mobs going on rampage at the slightest provocation. One wonders, what the destruction of public property is going to achieve.

Orkut Fame – From out of nowhere came a networking site called Orkut. And “Are you on Orkut?” was the question being asked around. Scrapping became the newest mode of communication and testimonials started defining everybody’s cool quotient.

Presidents in India – First Bush and then Hu. Everyone knew Bush but no one knew Hu. Who Hu? They came, shaked hands with our PM and landmark deals were signed.

Quite Surprising – What? Shashi Tharoor not being chosen as the UN’s Secretary General. He was billed as the Great Indian Hope but it was not to be. Anyways, he did bow out with enhanced prestige for himself and for India.

Reservation Ruckus – Arjun Singh’s proposed move to implement 27% reservation for the OBC in educational institutes rocked the country. It turned out to be the biggest student movement I have seen that turned into a major political saga.

Sanjay Dutt Acquitted – As soon as the 93 Bombay Blast verdicts started being given out, all eyes were on Sanjay Dutt. The fans and the film industry came out in support and to everyone’s delight, Sanjubaba was cleared of all terrorism charges.

Terrorism – 187 people died and over 700 were injured when 7 bombs blasted the local trains at peak hour. Earlier, 20 were killed and over a 100 injured in Varanasi. And then 38 more were killed and a 100 more were injured in Malegaon. So, what’s new?

Up & Down – That’s how the fortunes of Team India went. A good series in Pakistan, thrashings in West Indies, failure to win at home and then a 1^st ever Test victory in Africa before a series-leveling loss. Expect pretty much the same in 2007.

Viva Hrishida – I remember Hrishkesh Mukherjee for Anand and Golmaal. Later I found out that he had directed a number of other great films as well. All in all, the film industry lost a legend, but left behind numerous wonderful memories.

Wow Warnie – Shane Warne, the King of Spin, became the first ever bowler to capture 700 Test wickets. He also announced his retirement from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes series. A huge loss to the game, I feel.

Xtra Attention – On Abhishek and Aishwarya, who else? Will they marry? Will they not? Who cares? I guess the media; they have something to fill up time and space with after all. Ash is even being referred to as the Bachchan Bahu, sheesh!

Yo Roger – Roger Federer ruled the men’s tennis circuit again. 3 Grand Slams and some wonderful feuds with Nadal, Fedex surely seems unstoppable. He’s now set to break the record of most consecutive weeks as World Number One.

Zidane’s Head-butt - The French captain head-butted the Italian Materazzi into his chest, and that too during the WC final. His team first lost him for the penalty shoot-out and then lost the Cup.