Musings

Turn to a new page

“So what are you doing for New Year?” I look around aimlessly trying to avoid the question.

Partying is not my style. I feel claustrophobic in company of too many strangers. A few years ago (nay, a few decades ago), I might have stayed up and watched television until midnight. But television is anathema these days. It is blood curling, repetitive, or plain stupid in periodic cycles.

Should I cook something special? That I can do, and it is a nice excuse to be in a warm corner of the house on a cold night. So I do that, but still don’t understand the logic of staying up until the clock strikes twelve, when I can have a hot delicious meal earlier. Better to wake up fresh and early on New Year’s Day than get up groggy and grumpy from a late night.

All excuses be dumped. All I’m yearning to do is snuggle into my cosy razaai on a cold night. And I do that.

My thoughts drift to some special times as a teenager. Then, I used to keep a diary assiduously. I spent a few new year eves reading through my diary until midnight, while the whole house slept. And it was a beautiful reflective exercise. Until hormones happened and I got worried about people peeking into my diary. The daily writing first turned into complex coded statements, and then it was no longer fun. As even I didn’t remember what the context was, when things were written in such a complicated manner. Eventually diary writing stopped.

This morning I am wondering what earth-shattering changes will happen in this new decade. Will anything change overnight? And yet, even if you know that you aren’t going to end up less lazy on 1st January, there is a curious urge to do something better. Can I keep away from that extra helping of food? Can I stick to deadlines better and keep my proscrastination on a leash? Can I catch up on the books I want to read? Can I find some energy to get myself a little more organized?

Human beings are strange creatures. They can put everything that happened before behind themselves, and make new beginnings. And some planetary movements across the Milky Way can make them do just that. So this new year, make things better for yourself and the world around you. As my diary would say: turn to a fresh new page and begin writing a new story of your life.

Happy New Year!

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