Friday, December 31, 2010

Question mark still looms

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A year has passed since I posted “Happy new Year?” here on the same blog.

Well, I still can’t comprehend the idea about the prominence of the stroke of midnight moment that people celebrate so passionately. As pointed out in comments to my above mentioned   post, some knowledgeable readers said it is the celebration of new beginning and farewell to an eventful year .It was said that the greetings we exchange are ways of expression that remind and reassures our friends that they are thought of and we are with them in the journey of life.

Not that I have anything against the celebrations or against those who decide to rejoice and party in grand style with all fervor. The issue is, as the curtains are drawn on a year is it just   another reason for bash?   Instead shouldn’t the year end be the moment of retrospection and introspection for what we have got or lost and what we have learned through the journey of a year.  These moments of introspection truly give meaning and purpose to the life and help us do the suitable adjustments to rudders of our flight to stay on course so that we become the person, we think, we were meant to be.

Another year goes into annals of stupor but the life goes on and the tryst to accomplish unfilled dreams continues.Wishing you everything that brings fulfillment in your life, I leave you with this beautiful verse of kahlil Gibran

"Yet the timeless in you, is aware of life's timelessness,
And knows that yesterday is but today's memory
and tomorrow is today's dream.
But if in your thought you must, measure time into seasons,
let each season encircle all the other seasons,
and let today embrace the past with remembrance
and the future with longing."

13 comments:

  1. As I have grown older, I realized it's futile to try to compartmentalize time in accordance with the clock or the calendar. Hence, the odd times of sleep and waking up (whenever schedule permits). :)

    But on a more serious note, I have realized that I cannot synchronize my celebrations with that of the world. The right time to party is whenever I have something to celebrate, and more important, with people I want to share my happiness.

    On the other hand, introspection is also a function of mood. :)

    But, one can't help but get nostalgic about the year that is to pass by.

    Wish you a happy new year, too!

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  2. Yesterday that is 31st DEc or NYE (as it is popularly called !)... when i flipped through a supplement of my daily newspaper...all i saw was different advertisements beckoning one to spend their last few hours of the year at some club dancing away to some fast paced music.... alll the ads carried as a "symbol" of celebration some pics of provocative dancers.... I wondered if celebration means this and ONLY this... no harm in dancing away the night with friends but this was different....like every goddamn festival this was another proof of commercialization of celebrations....i celebrate every new year at home watching TV...at times with friends..that is my way of welcoming the new year ..being surrounded by people who matter the most...

    in the same newspaper there was an article about the not-so-celebratory things that have happened this year, the scams , the sentencing of a person considered to be innocent by a large majority and so on. Such introspection is necessary ...

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  3. @Ketan I agree that even introspection depends on the mood and the company that we decide to share our happiness with plays a vital role .The point is , every thing has become so market driven that the new year evening has just become a festival .Everyone seems to living for fun ,fun seems to be the purpose of life for many. but then it is their life.
    Thanks Ketan, for stopping by.

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  4. @Shiny So true, that is precisely the point I was trying to make that instead of being a passage of eventful span A year for an individual has become an event controlled by the markets.
    I don't see people getting united for a social cause or for civic problems giving the excuse of lack of time, but on such occasions they find all the time in the world . Strange that so much wrong around us neither bothers nor unites us , but events like these are get- together celebrations.

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  5. @shiny I suggest you read the related post where I had raised all these questions last year
    http://balanisunil.blogspot.com/2010/01/happy-new-year.html

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  6. Sir,

    Personally, I also feel the purpose of my life is to be happy and nothing more, but I suspect others are not even actually having fun. It's more about proving to *others* that fun is being 'had'. That's even more pathetic.

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  7. @ ketan , Everyone aspires to be happy but In my opinion the happiness comes from accomplishment of purpose. Happiness is the end product of realization of purpose. Happiness is contentment and satisfaction. People have a set of goals that belong to their human nature. A happy person is moral, having aptitude and poignant inclination to fulfill his human ends.

    But , then the natures differ . I agree with the pretence of many “having fun “. Such fun is equivalent to happiness that is attained by receiving a big packet wrapped in nice gift paper which is actually empty inside.
    and, nest time you address me sir, I will address you doctor sahab []

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  8. Wish you a Happy New Year!
    Indeed time is timeless and each day should be treated with new vigour. I love those lines of Khalil Gibran. There is a lot of wisdom in his writings.

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  9. @shas True, works of Gibran are full of wisdom and thought . Wish you a year that brings fulfillment and peace in life.

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  10. @ Sunilji: Well it is just one more marketing strategy I guess. Only problem is the kind of products that sell just before, during and just after any new year for that matter.

    In Bangalore... revelers 'celebrating' New Year left some 20 tonnes of trash... on MG Road... for the civic authorities to clean up the following morning. Liquor bottles, cans and ciggy butts dominated the trash. And women misbehaved with of course. That is a day... or those are some days... when some folks do not need to think of an excuse to drink...

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  11. These days everybody's life is hectic so everyone is in search of a tinniest reason to give a break to that boreing routine.

    I think it is a time to evaluate what we did in the last year and what we are planning to do in the comming year(s).

    HNY. :)

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  12. @ Roshmi : You are right ,events like these suits the markets.Clubs ,hotels , card shops, clothing outlets , gift shops and bars are huge beneficiaries from such celebrations.
    I have spent some years of life in Bangalore and have seen many youth in MG Road and Brigade area flourish this leitmotif that aping the west is appealing. They think it is stylish to take booze and smoke. A westerner will not dirty the place but this they won't learn .They think it is their right to soil and dirty everything while having their fun and later it is Government's duty to keep everything neat and tidy.

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  13. @chandrika: Welcome to the blog and thanks for comment .
    Everyone has the right to enjoy their life according to their own liking and values and no one is questioning that.The question is does this bring fulfillment, bliss and joy ?

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Your viewpoint will definitely give it wider perspective

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