This New Year’s Eve-Stay at Home

 

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-with-fireworks-769525/

It is that time of the year yet again. We all have plans to usher in the new year partying at a night spot, raucous outdoor event, the pristine (how I wish!) hills of Uttrakhand and Himachal, the packed beaches of Goa or the crowded desert destinations of Rajasthan. In order to do so, you have to brave traffic chaos, drunk revellers, inclement weather and the ill effects of overdrinking and overeating.

Why put yourself through all that? Why not usher in the new year in gentle contemplation of the year gone by in the company of your family in front of the telly or the fireplace (or convector/radiator)? Chat over pakoras and chai and come midnight pop a champagne or open a bottle of wine to share with your loved ones. Have a sumptuous meal, wish each other a heartfelt happy new year and wake up to a bright new one filled with sunshine and vigour.

Why do New Year's celebrations have to be a forced community event, with everybody jostling one another and shouting into each other's years? The mayhem witnessed on the highways leading to the hill stations of North India and other tourist destinations last Christmas weekend is all set to repeat this New Year's Eve weekend. Why opt for it?

If you are the kind who loves the hills and can't wait to be there, find a better time to enjoy their splendour and revel in some much-needed solitude. Not when everybody and their uncle and their neighbour is headed there vitiating the very pure air you pine (pun intended) for. In a country bursting at the seams with people, any special occasion becomes a reason for hordes to descend on the streets, highways, public parks, tourist resorts and every other place possible and rob them of any semblance of peace, order and serenity.

With travel vloggers being dime a dozen and with every conceivable place of interest for travellers being highlighted, analyzed, praised to the skies and heavily recommended, there is no mystique attached to any place anymore. There are highways and tunnels to the remotest of places and all that you need to get there is a set of wheels, which millions now possess, never mind the fact that air pollution levels in most of India are catastrophic.

This New Year's Eve can we all stay at home and observe the occasion in the company of those who truly love and care for us and forego all the noise? Instead, we can get to know what's going on in the lives of people who matter to us the most. We can usher in the new year in the warm glow of comfort that comes with being amongst one's own. Nothing better than starting the new year with your priorities sorted just right.