I find myself welcoming 2020 in a uniquely atypical situation. On this new year evening I am all alone in a small town in a remote corner of southern India; away from friends and family and surrounded by strangers who speak a language I do not comprehend. While I do feel isolated, it also gives me an opportunity to reflect. What is so special about the new year day? Factually it’s just another day of the year. Different cultures follow different calendars and their new year falls on different days. There is nothing special about December 31st per se other than the fact it marks the end of the year in the solar, Gregorian calendar. Yet the day is one of celebrations and greetings. It is special because we chose to make it so.
It is customary for us to greet each other by “Happy New Year” around this time. What does the phrase mean? At one level we are wishing the other person that the coming new year brings them much happiness. But there is more to it than that. The implicit subtext here is that we are wishing the person happiness together with us. When we say, “Happy New Year”, we are really saying, “May you and I have a happy new year together”. Ultimately it is a celebration of relationships. If we were to be surrounded by strangers (as I am now) there would be no one to wish a happy new year and really speaking no need and the wishes, if any, would be perfunctory. I doubt Robinson Crusoe had a big new year bash while he was marooned on the island. But surrounded by friends and family we relish this opportunity to re-establish the sweetness of our relationships with those around us. These are people that we depend upon physically, emotionally and spiritually. Embedded in the new year wishes is gratitude to our loved ones for being there for us in the past and the fervent wish we continue to be more so a part of each other’s happy future lives.
As we embark on a new year, a new decade, I would like to thank my family and all my friends for giving me this opportunity and privilege to wish them all a, “Happy New Year!”
