Happy New Year

A friend once wished me happy new year on my birth day which falls in August. I accepted it as a slip of tongue and thanked him for the wishes. Later, when I gave it a second thought, his wishes seemed thought provoking. The new year does not necessarily fall on 1st January. He might have wished me some other new year, as there were a number of them in our country at least. The whole business community, particularly in Gujarat, celebrates new year on second day of Diwali. Then there is Parsi new year, Buddhist new year, Assamese new year called 'Bihu', Bangla Nav Varsh called 'Poila Baishakh' which falls on 14th April, Punjabi new year (not on Baisakhi as popularly believed but a month before, ie., the first day of Chaitra which falls in the month of March) and many more. Only the rituals differ to celebrate the various new years by their respective followers. While the Christian era new year is marked with 'spirited' revelry in addition to carrying out surveys of the past and prophesies for the future, as also distributing new calendars and other gifts, the other new years, as mentioned above, involve religious ceremonies and folk festivities. Some of our official calendars show two more dates along side the Gregorian ones ie., from 'Vikrami' and 'Saka' samvats. One of these is much ahead of our times and the other one that much behind. No wonder the former is the 'samvat' followed by the business community and the latter, our 'sarkari' one, which is showing 1928 this year and surely, the look inside some of our 'sarkari' offices match that age.
Well ! when there are so many calendars around, why can't you have your personal one. In fact one's year commences on the day when one is born. The day one lands on this beautiful planet, one is taken by the big 'Merry-go-Round' on a ride, which rotates around its own axis to make one pass through light and darkness every twenty four hours, so that one can work and rest accordingly (though some of us make wrong use of the journey through darkness and create trouble either for ourselves or for others). The same 'Merry-go-Round' also takes one on a longer ride of 365.25 days, year after year. Its axis is so carefully tilted and the orbit so elongated, that one does not have to suffer the monotony of the journey and is exposed to various seasons and other kind and unkind acts of Mother Nature. Well, in fact, on one's birthday one can precisely tell that how many rounds (years) one has completed around the 'Big Bulb' - that eternal source of light and energy.

As I am writing this, the popular new year, the gregorian one, is approaching and let me take the opportunity to wish you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.