the transcience of time

i did not know how else to put it.
going through another turn of the calendar year, it was an overdose of looking back, looking forward everywhere, mostly in the media.
add to that the flood of new year wishes.
and some contrarian thoughts.
about the futility of new year resolutions.
or the myth of the self-improvement programs.
or the themes around the anger and frustrations of the effects of terror.
or the invitations from 5 star hotels, resorts and event managers to drink up and usher in the new year.

this time, i decided not to send out any greetings - or even post in this blog - till after a few days in the new year, so that everybody would have cleared their flooded mailboxes..

coming to the topic, i can understand the special days created by - i guess, archies, to promote sales of cards - such as fathers' day, mothers' day, pets' day, secretaries' day, or the festivals that occur throughout the year.
but, new year?

it does not coincide with any other years [birthday - at least for most of the people], financial years, academic years etc around which our plans and activities spin..
as legends have it, the current new year on Jan 1 was also forced from march 1 - when it used to be somewhat synchronized with the advent of spring..
last year, the tamilnadu government moved the tamil new year from sometime in april - according to the tamil calendar - to jan 14, pongal day - which is the harvest celebration.

i feel that we should have anniversary dates for various activities in our lives.
for self improvement - though it may be a myth - or the guilt-washing resolutions, it should be one's birthday.
for financial planning - sync it with the financial year, so at least your taxes would he managed in time.
for holidays, sync it with the school year.

make the current new year a day for social contribution and increase the social awareness around you.

go ahead and indulge, if you wish, but spare a thought and some action for others not so fortunate.