"Happy" New Year???

"2004 ... almost rounded up. ...woah man!!!, I love this year. It marked a new beginning for me. I closed all the old chapters and started afresh... with the amazing sagittarian spirit, that shall keep me going till I conquer the entire world >:-]. When I turn and look back, I feel happy ...and I feel proud that I've been able to set my foot in this wild wild world, and have set it firm. Now, with my mind without fear, my head held high and my eyes, still focussed on my goals (the world isn't yet conquered), I take the first step into the new astronomic timeframe that we call a year."
...I was supposed to say all that to myself, as I partied all night on 31st. Personally, for me this was a great year. ...and I was also suppposed to wish a "Happy New Year" to everyone I met.
But, at this point of time, calling this "New Year" event "Happy", would perhaps be the most ironic statement to make. Why are we celebrating new year this time? Is it because, while 100,000 of us perished, we are still alive? Did we live, so that we could forget the ones gone forever and just move on?
I think I have a new "New Year Speach" to make - "2004 ...almost rounded up. I still love this year on a personal note. But if I go out to party tomorrow, boozing and dancing the entire night, looking at and lusting for the babes there, I won't be able to muster up enough courage to see my face in the mirror, the day after ...for every penny that I'll spend there means "life" to the people who will "celebrate" their new year in a relief camp.
But tomorrow, I shall still celebrate life as it seems, no longer to be a gift but a privilege. This time, let us not give out a message that we don't care. Instead, let us tell them that we are with them in their time of trouble"
Do you watch the morning news??? ...well, I never did. But these days I make it a point to watch the news so that when I start my day, I know that while I would be sitting leasurely in my air-conditioned office, there are people longing for a breath of fresh air ...one that doesn't have the stink of rotting bodies of the people they adored.
It is a humble request to everyone reading this, that whatever money you had shelled out for the new year celebration, please donate it to any of the Tsunami Relief Funds. Even the smallest of efforts can make a big difference. Spending some good time with near and dear ones is also how you could celebrate this new year.
Today, I proudly call myself an Indian ...a ciztizen of the country that is not just battling one of it's worst calamities on its own, but also rendering a helping hand to other countries.
"Vasudhev Kutumbkam" - The earth is a family

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