Google released its ‘Year in Search 2021′ list, which, like every other year, displays what was searched the most — topics, trends, personalities, news — on its search engine around the world.
In 2021, among the most-searched-for subjects on Google in India in 2021, cricket fans ensured that two events — ICC T20 World Cup and Indian Premier League — made it to the top 5 searches, with CoWin, Euro Cup, and Tokyo Olympics occupying the other three spots. Globally, the Indian cricket team featured in the most-searched-for overall term in 2021, with the India vs Australia and the India vs England cricket series making it to the top 5 in the search list.
Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra became the most searched-for personality in India in 2021, with Aryan Khan occupying the second spot. Shehnaaz Gill and Raj Kundra were at the third and fourth spot respectively on the most-searched personalities, while Elon Musk rounded up the top-5 list.
Overall, in India, the top 5 searches were: Indian Premier League, CoWin, ICC T20 World Cup, Euro Cup and Tokyo Olympics. Aryan Khan placed 10th in the list of overall top searches in India.
On its official YouTube channel, Google put up a video, and captioned it, “In a year that continued to test many, the world searched “how to heal” more than ever. Whether they’re taking care of mental health, honouring a loved one, or reuniting with family, people are finding ways to come back stronger than before.”
The 2-minute video shows the various languages in which people searched for the phrase, “how to heal” — como sanar (Spanish) and cara pemulihan (Indonesian) among others. Some of the other searches included, “will there be another lockdown”, “how to take care of your mental health”, “how to stay strong”, “when can I get the vaccine”, “how to be resilient”, “when can I visit my family”, “stop Asian hate”, among others.
The video has been viewed over 1.34 crore times, and over 6,000 people commented on it.
Voiceovers from all across the world can be heard in the video. In the beginning, we hear people saying, “This year has been extremely challenging for me”, and, “I am broken and I’m healing”.
“For some reason, I am having anxiety,” another woman is next heard saying. She adds, “Obviously, it’s normal with everything going on right now.”
Then, we also hear tennis star Naomi Osaka’s voice from her September 2021 press conference during the US Open, saying, “I think I am going to take a break for a while”, referring to her decision to stay away from competitive tennis for some time.
There’s also a small clip of American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish at a concert, addressing the crowd and telling them, “You guys, it’s been so long.”
Killing Eve actress Sandra Oh’s speech from a Stop Asian Hate rally in Pittsburgh in March also made it to the recap. She says, “I am proud to be Asian.” Stop Asian Hate was the name given to a series of anti-Asian violence events staged around the United States in 2021 in response to racism directed at Asian-Americans.
Another clip shows Samoan climate activist Brianna Fruean saying, “We are not drowning, we are fighting”, during an address at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.
There’s also a clip of Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet in US history to mark the transition of presidential power, speaking at the inauguration of President Joe Biden in January and telling the world, “Even as we grieved, we grew.”
“I didn’t expect it to be this moving. 2021 is almost passed, I hope everyone has been stronger, healthier. I wish there’s a way to spread everyone’s positive energy to people who’s in need,” read a comment.
Another user wrote, “I don’t think we all give ourselves enough credit for staying strong through these last two years. But you did it, we did it. We will make it through all of these hard things.”