Musings On The New Year

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 30 December 2024 Kuchh Khushiyan, Kuchh Aansoo De Kar Taal Gaya Jeevan Ka Ik Aur Sunhara Saal Gaya (Giving away some joys and a few tears / Yet another golden year of life has glided by) Why's there so much hullabaloo about a new year when it's just a very minor change in digits? The year 2024 soon segues into 2025 and after a year, 2025 will roll into 2026 and this will go on till we're on the planet Earth. Years are humans' attempts to segmentise the timelessness of time and compartmentalize the continuity of eternity. In other words, there's nothing new in a new year. Yet, we all look forward to welcoming a new year. To quote Rahil Ghazipuri, "Har Kisi Ko Ilm Hai Ki Kuchh Badalta Nahin / Phir Bhi Naye Saal Ka Josh Ghat-Ta Nahin" (Everyone knows that nothing changes / Yet, the New Year zeal doesn't diminish). Just the way birthdays are celebrated with much gaiety and fanfare, a new year is also an occasion for all of us to let our hair down. Since we've calendarised and calibrated time into yearly segments for our convenience, a 'perceived' and 'anticipated' new year fills us with a sense of joy and mirth because each new year offers an exciting opportunity for a fresh start and new beginnings, which is probably why we all look forward to New Year's Eve and New Year's Day so much. No matter what our goals are for the coming year or how many New Year's resolutions we plan on making for 2025, ringing in the start of a new year is a moment to acknowledge. One, to celebrate all of our experiences from 2024; and two, to welcome the new year ahead. A new year is a time for new beginnings. Dr Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' wrote, 'Har Saal Ke Antim Din Main Simhaavlokan (सिंहावलोकन) Karta Hoon Ki Guzarta Saal Kaisa Raha Aur Ab Naye Saal Mein Kya Behatari Layee Jaa Sakti Hai ' (Every year on the last day, I look back and ruminate over how I spent it and how changes can be brought about in the new year). Mexican Ambassador to India and a Nobel laureate in Literature (1990), Octavio Paz Lozano aptly said that the last year is like the last night. Wake up to a new dawn in a new year. The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul because one must like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. The magic in new beginnings is something indescribable. Had time been a seamless entity without the segments of days, minutes, hours and years, its overwhelming transcendence would have made humans feel too small and insignificant. We also would have felt lost in the oblivion of time and the dungeon of the universe. Time can never be enslaved, it can only be apportioned to some extent. So, by apportioning time into years, we've given ourselves a direction to look ahead. To quote J P Morgan, "The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are." Remember, tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/musings-new-year/d/134183 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism