Michael Vaz
The New Year 2018 has ushered in with the people of all hues celebrating with renewed zeal forgetting and ignoring the things of the past which we could not change but certainly welcoming the fresh year with determination to assert what best one can do to spread peace and happiness within and without so that the world would be a better place for all to live in. The news on different channels on January 1 flashed the jubilant mood of people from different parts of the country. Importantly, it was seen that revelry was writ large on the faces not just in the major towns but even in places from some of the most backward states.
And that kept me guessing for a moment on the hue and cry created by isolated conservative elements in some parts of the country that were on a mission to compel the people to oppose the New Year bash arguing that it does not gel with the Indian culture. In Karnataka weeks ahead, the rebels forced the cancellation of the New Year eve programme of Sunny Leone. They wanted the people to celebrate Ugadi or Gudi Padva as that heralds the New Year according to Hindu tradition. What the irrational minds lost track of is the fact that not just in India but even internationally the Christian calendar summons the New Year and everyone follows it officially. For religious purposes different creeds follow their own calendars and celebrate their individual events as per their traditions.
So once again it’s the revelation of short-sightedness and ignorance of the people that is proving to be a disturbing trend which can only create dissension among the people. It would be fitting to suggest that since during the beginning of the calendar year people are accustomed to making new resolutions, one such simplest and most effective and meaningful resolve could be to ensure that people refrain from imposing their will and way of thinking on others and leave them to their fate.
The greatest injustice that cynics have been doing of late is to display a ‘holier than thou’ attitude and profess that only what they practise is just and what others follow is unacceptable and should be reprimanded. The sad thing is even the governments in some states are inundated with this malice and directly or indirectly imposing unnecessary restrictions on the citizens, even on what they should eat, drink or how they should dress and present themselves in public. Shameful Indeed!
