The Nostalgia Of 31st December!



As the year-end approaches, I find myself taking a trip down memory lane.

The trip stops at a date. 31st December.

The last day of the year still has an aura of celebration, excitement and anticipation. For me, it was a day, and sometimes, the night, to spend with my friends.

We took it very seriously, you know. 31st ka kya plan hai?! Decide nahi kia abhi tak!  We used to plan days in advance for this date. Whose house we would spend the day in? What would be on the menu? How should we make the day special? Actual meetings would be conducted for this!

The tape-recorder and the latest music album were compulsory. Not that we actually danced. But it felt good to listen to the peppy music while hanging out at a friend’s house and eating some delicious home-made snacks. Those innocent days, we hero-worshipped actors and actresses, so seeing them perform live at some function, was our way of celebrating. We cheered and danced to some of the songs, totally caught up in the enthusiasm of the performers. We would stay awake till midnight and when the first fire-cracker burst, signaling that it’s 12, we would shout in excitement and wish each other with hugs. Some more talking would ensue, after which, we would blissfully fall asleep, cocooned in the happiness of being surrounded by our childhood best-buddies.

As we grew up, we became more fascinated with the terrace of our building. The days of playing were long gone, and as teenagers, we wished to talk more. The terrace also turned into a party-zone for celebrating the 31st of December.

We no longer celebrated at our homes. Looking back now, I can’t help thinking that perhaps, this must have saddened our parents who were used to a full-house on New Year’s eve. The home-made snacks were replied by fast-food brought from restaurants. The live performances lost their appeal.

We would simply gather in the terrace after dinner, talk for a really long while and when the first fire-cracker burst at 12, we would try to curb our excitement and enthusiasm, for we were ‘cool grown-ups’ now and would casually wish each other. It was a pleasure to see the fireworks from the terrace! We would stay all night talking and would finally go back to our homes at dawn after planning out the ‘schedule’ for the entire day. The first on the agenda would be a visit to the temple. That was a rule that we rigorously followed.

Sometimes, the building where we stayed, arranged for an annual function on 31st. There would be dance performances, songs by budding singers, games for grown-ups and a delicious buffer dinner which used to be the highlight of the function. There was a different kind of happiness in celebrating with all our neighbours and society members with whom we had decades of association and belongingness.

With the passage of time, we got scattered. We got married and shifted to new homes. And yet those who were still in the same city tried their best to gather together on 31st, either spending the night at someone’s home or meeting for dinner. The rush and line for dinners at hotels started to get on our nerves and after a while, we reverted back to the sweet ritual of assembling together at a friend’s home, cooking something special and watching a much-loved classic movie.

I miss celebrating New Year’s eve with my friends. I miss the conversations and the nostalgic trips that we all would reminisce about. But most of all, I miss the New Year Resolutions.

We used to have many resolutions for the New Year. I used to buy books specially to write down the resolutions. Somehow, the resolutions stopped after a while. I think I accepted that I won’t stick to them, no matter what. So why to keep any resolutions in the first place, right? No. This wasn’t right. This was wrong. For, having resolutions and writing them down, brought in hope. That I could be better, that my life could be better. Not keeping any resolutions was one thing, but totally giving up to this extent that I stopped making any resolutions, felt like I had given up hope, given up on me and most of all, given up on life. This time, before the year ends, I will write down my resolutions for the New Year, on a new book that I have already purchased. For I am not giving up on life now!

Being so far from childhood friends and family, 31st wouldn’t be the same. It hasn’t been 31st, since a while now. It feels like my tryst with 31st is over and it is now time for my kid to create new moments of celebration with his friends, and thereby create memories which he can look back on happily.

Celebrate 31st with your family and friends, people, and for your own sake, for the sake of the ‘younger-you’ who believed in the power of resolutions, prepare some for the New Year!

Because everyone deserves to have a resolution, to believe in fresh starts and to always keep up hope in themselves and in life. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Thine Own Self, Be Kind!

Image
As if life was not tough enough, we had to complicate it even more by being hard on ourselves. Today's journaling prompt asks me to introspect the ways in which people are generally harsh on themselves, and what kind of support can we offer to ourselves to take it easy. Feeling like we are not doing/being enough: There must be very few people who feel contented and satisfied with what they are or with their work. Majority of the people battle self-criticism, always rebuking themselves for not trying enough, or for not being more. The most difficult person to satisfy or please is oneself. It is always toughest to silence our own mind's criticism! None of us has it easy in life, and yet we are coping with the situations to the best of our abilities. Sometimes we choose an unconventional coping mechanism that might feel strange or unfamiliar to many, but works wonderfully for us. To each one, their own! I feel we judge ourselves much more than we judge others, and we do not forgiv...
Read more

Happiness - A Journey And Destination!

Image
As a homemaker, one of the biggest challenges of my day is finding happiness amidst the routine chores. When you have to do the same tasks every day, a sense of boredom creeps in.  One of the best lessons that I have learnt in my quest for happiness is that, it can be found not just in the destination but in the journey as well. Often we focus so much on the destination that we forget to smell the roses in the various paths that our journey takes us through.  I try to make mundane tasks interesting by adding something new to the day. While cooking, I usually listen to podcasts. Not only do they inspire me, but the dreary process of cooking turns into something interesting that I actually look forward to. Sometimes I attempt new recipes. Other times I listen to songs while cooking.  Talking about songs, they are a must when it comes to cleaning the house. I am not a cleanliness-freak and most of the times, I let it go if the house is messy. But sometimes it gets so m...
Read more

Do Not Just Exist; Live!

Image
As I remind my kid for the umpteenth time to set aside the mobile and devote some time for studies, and as he gets irritated, a wry thought crosses my mind. How and when did I become so uncool?!  I have always tried to stay poised, as much as I can. It has not always been a success, but the moments of calm and poise have outnumbered the moments of panic, at least till now. But off late, I find myself often getting panicky or anxious. While a cough, in the younger days, used to be just a cough and nothing else, now it makes me search for dire diseases in the internet. While the prospect of travel used to bring in excitement and a good sense of anticipation in the past, now it adds to the anxiety, reminding of all the tasks and responsibilities to be dealt with the travel. While meeting new people and clicking with them instantly, used to be something natural, now a simple message that I send to someone makes me wonder whether there was anything hurtful or wrong about the message. Ho...
Read more