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Photo: H. Satish

Chill out Keep up the tradition of revelry by joining in one of the freak-out zones

Old habits die hard, they say. The dawn of New Year may not help every soul to change his old habits but it sure does send many on a roller coaster ride of guilt trips, renewed optimism and fresh beginnings.

“Give up late night parties,” preaches Ravi, an engineering student, to ‘concentrate on studies.’ Wish him good luck. The New Year resolutions may be big or small, they may get implemented or flounder, but the striking feature is that they pave the way for self-assessment and appraisal of the world around.

“I have been reading a lot about climate change” says Venkatesh, a 35-year-old technical operator. “The important aspects that decide the fate of our planet this year and for the years to come is climate change. So we should be zeroing in on more clean energy sources. To start with, I would like to cut out whatever waste of power. If every household saves on these simple measures, it would bring in a tremendous change,” he says.

A New Year can cause a thaw in frosty relationships. Rupa, a M.Sc. biology student, feels that picking up fights with classmates and then going on a guilt trip was a silly thing, which could ruin most of the precious life. Eager to bury the hatchet, she plans to meet the people she has offended and “say sorry and have a party.”

For Sasidhar, a lecturer in English, a new year is a state of mind. Waking up early and going for a workout has been a resolution, which was renewed every fresh year. But the fitness fever lasts only till may be the middle of February, after which the Shakespearean tragedy unfolds. “I do workouts for a few days and then I slack off.” In the bargain, he has neither been able to sleep off properly nor go for workouts promptly. This year, he decides to do away with the war in his head: no resolutions henceforth. Well, he can sleep better now.

Sixty-year-old Ramana Rao will try being less of a trouble to his family members. “I’ll take care not to be a burden to others.” Well, most of us spend the former part of life thinking the world is giving us trouble, and in next half of your life, we feel we are giving trouble to others. “ I want to start doing some exercises,” he says with the tone of a warrior adding: “To keep myself functioning to the best of my ability.”

“Ringing in a new year is a festivity. I hope to have a cracking time,” gushes an excited Mohan, an engineering student. “Partying with friends and boogying the night away is my idea of ushering in a New Year,” he says prompting his friend Deepak to chip in: “It’s going to be great fun when we rock the night with friends.”

Shankar is a painter who fervently hopes that the year to come will be full of rainbow colours that will fill lives on this earth with happiness and joy.

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