The New Year Resolution – On Life
While it is a known fact that most traditions and customs stem from some sort of religious ritual or the other, a lot of them transcend that boundary to blend seamlessly into the cosmopolitan culture that breathes the very life into our city. With 2020 knocking at the door, we can’t help but think of one such practice without which, we cannot transition into a new year!
‘The New Year resolution’
Sound familiar?
Ideally, it should, we have had it around for about 4000 years already! Having begun apparently with the ancient Babylonians pledging to return borrowed items at the time of their new year: the season in which a new crop was planted (to avoid the wrath of God), this is a custom that has come a long, long way.
Today, in most cases, it is when faced with the question “what is your New Year’s resolution?” that we stop to give it a thought. While optimists like Khuzan Irani feel that a New Year resolution is a good way to organize thoughts and consider ‘what one would like to do for themselves, given an opportunity’; there are others like Alina Tambuwala who (smirks slightly and then) term these resolutions as ‘promises you keep for the first two weeks of the rest of the year’, as she goes on to say that as she grew older, her resolutions became more and more vague until at one point of time, for three years in a row her resolution was to ‘be a good child’, before she gave up on them completely!
But not all’s wrong with resolutions re-affirms Bonita Roy who believes that a New Year Resolution is something that she would most definitely use to ensure she does not do something, seeing how every time she makes a resolution to do something, it keeps her from doing just that!
Having said that, the ‘resolution’ seems to still have a hold on us as it brings in with it a tingling of positivity; a fresh chance to change for the better, and with a “sense of a deadline to finish doing whatever it is” says animator Jahnvi Shah, who wishes to work harder, complete a passion project and sketch more in 2020, but would not necessarily wait for the 31st to start doing it! Echoing her thoughts, is young designer Tusharchand Diwan who feels that a New Year, like an anniversary or any other important date of the year, can be when you decide it to be, and the other dates follow until that one comes up again. And the same lies for resolutions too. While he hopes to be able to manage time better and find a work-life balance in 2020, he strongly feels that waiting for a date to make a resolution is just an ‘act of procrastination’.
Ironically however, there are also scores of Punie-ites who look at the concept of a New Year’s resolution as a realization of things you’ve always wanted to do. If you can pen it down, you can achieve it; ‘tick it off the list’ says software engineer Umme-Hani, who ‘really, really, really wants to travel the country, and climb the Himalayas’ this year, and even has a blank travel diary dedicated just to it! But not all resolutions need to come with such preparation, feels Aliasgar Sabuwala who has decided to ‘save time, save money’ and indulge in at least one crazy adventure sport every year!
Although theirs might be the more Into-the-Wild inspired resolutions, for others, ‘working more and more and more and more’ may do the trick feels Adhish Paigude, who looks forward to bigger opportunities in the film industry in 2020. ‘Perhaps it is all about setting a moment aside to think about what really matters, prioritizing things, and taking a conscious call on what you want to give more of your time to,’ contemplates film maker Viraj More, who has decided to enhance his dancing skill in the coming year. It seems all you need is a ‘positive outlook towards your future’, agrees Suparna Sahajwalla, who says that ‘if you think about it in a good way, things are bound to come your way!’ as she resolves to learn to let go this year, instead of stressing over things that don’t matter anymore.
A second chance, an excuse, an opportunity, call it what you will, it’s been here a long time, and intends to stay!
