It’s interesting how most assume the idea that the New Year ushers in a spirit of complete newness, heralding in some kind of rebirth or renewal, springing forth from a brand-new day. I certainly do not want to be a killjoy, but it’s not like the world suddenly gets a complete Do Over! It’s not that New Year comes with assurances or promises about turning your life around for the better within a day! However, what it does bring is the hope and the dream of a better tomorrow. And that is the truth we celebrate.

‘Hope springs eternal’ in the promise of every New Day, every New Year… something bright that tugs you forward. New Years are celebrated as hours of triumph.  A New Year may signify the end of those long autumn walks with steps and streets strewed with orange and faded yellow leaves… with the coming of rejuvenated beauty, a burst of colours and all around just lush, green, verdant joy. The change is not from one day to another, but in the way we choose to view our world. If you are willing to move forward, every sunrise brings you a new glimmer of hope, a time for reawakening. Perhaps the smallness of our existence dissipates with the oneness of a grand celebration.

We join every celebration for the sheer joy of participation. The world calls for a celebration of all the tomorrows and all those unknowns. But we must also remember to celebrate the past and the people who journeyed with you… the ones who shone their light when the roads were dark; the ones who carried you when you were weary. Let’s not forget to reminisce the glory of those times and honour the simplicity of the past, rather than all the complexities of the present. Yesterday’s children had bigger hearts and smaller rooms, wide open spaces and friends to call their own. Now they seek connections in a random, disconnected world.

By all means we must partake of the auspicious celebrations this New Year and the next and all the ones to follow. But, in all the jubilation and joy and cheer, let’s not forget what’s really important. There is obviously a bit more to New Year’s than what we choose to colour it with. We can comb through happy memories, run with the excitement of childhood days, with the sheer understanding and maturity of the present. And all the while, the floodgates of happiness open, not because of the feast or fun, but because of the people who were a part of it.

Remember those early morning visits to The Atash Bahram’s and Agiaries, holding on tightly to those precious hands worried that the extraordinary wave of devotees should somehow succeed in separating you from your mother’s side? Lighting those exact, lucky number of divas amidst the sea of lights fervently lit by the hopes, wishes and desires of thousands, placing their petitions to Ahura Mazda and all that is divine… Those mandatory trips to Parsi Dairy Farm, where Kulfi and other treats consumed, always spoilt that appetite for New Year’s lunch. New Year was all about smiles exchanged, where genuine care for family and friends were rooted in age-tested values and morals.

Nowadays, drowsed consciousness has become an aversion towards most manners of responsibilities and gratitude, almost creating new-fangled aspirations towards being distant or not really bothered about anything but our own joy, comfort and even greed. All that the distant past or the immediate present can offer you, is a charmed faded photograph of pure love that has been dimmed by absence and yearning smothered by habits of disconnect.

We seem to be growing capriciously harder to please and even harder to love. While the celebrations are growing bigger and brighter, we are actually going through life, touching it scarcely. As the New Year dawns, remember there is a certain indefinable beauty which comes of joy, of success, of enthusiasm; but balanced and tempered with humility, and compassion. The harmony of temperament with circumstances is often an unbeatably quality. As you herald in the New Year, do make it unforgettable. But remember all days are pretty much alike… like a thousand waves rushing to the shore, but it’s the ones that crash at your feet that make the difference. So, make ‘All’ yours count!