Happy New Year!

Hi Friends...............been ages since I blogged.....Gosh! this is becoming one of my standard lines!!!!!

So, before I forget, Compliments of the Season to all my dear friends..........Wish all of you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!! Hmmmmmmmm............New year, new ideas, new thoughts and new blogs!!!!! There's so much more to look forward to, isn't it????

Come to think of it, New Year is the one and only occasion that is celebrated worldwide unanimously (never mind the statewise new years that we have in India during various harvest seasons!!!). But seriously, its a day binding on all the people of the world, when all the world parties and joins hands to bid farewell to the passing year and welcome the coming one with open arms! ( Now please don't ask me how people can join hands and open arms all at once!!!!!!!!)

Why is the New Year so significant??? For most people its not just the beginning of a new calendar year but a day to make various other new beginnings. People always keep cribbing about all the things they would like to change about themselves, all the things that they want to achieve and this is just an excuse, an opportunity, a reason to go all out and do just that. Its also a reminder that one more year has passed. As I was talking to my uncle the other day, he told me this and it just stuck.........that the New year is like a railway station. When I gave it some thought, I realized how much meaning the comparison had. Yes, New Year is like a railway station, where the train of our life halts for a moment and we get to assess whether we are heading in the right direction, how much longer we have to go, whether we are supplied with sufficient fuel and whether we are proceeding as per target!

The birth of a New Year is the rising of a new dawn when we put the past behind us and look eagerly and enthusiastically at the glorious tomorrow that's waiting for us - just around the bend! Practically speaking, all that we talk of as characteristics of the New year - all this fuss about making a new start, looking ahead and all that - could be any other day of the year but then, the unanimity of celebration, the spirit of the occasion would be lost. For many people, the new beginning that they make on New Year's is because they know everyone does so. The making of resolutions, the starting of new habits, the giving up of old ones.....all of these on New year's is simply because, as I said earlier, this day is an excuse to do so! Also, people, in their everyday hurry, do not realize the value of time that's slipping from between their fingers every moment....but when it collects and becomes a year lost, they are jolted to reality and realization dawns that another year has past...........The New year is an AWAKENING of sorts!

New Year would never be the same if people all did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted - in that case, new year would only be the purchase of a new calendar! The whole spirit of New Year is making new beginnings, setting new targets and getting to work towards them - not just partying hard and then, again, waiting for 31st December!!!!!!!!

So, Happy New Year people! Hope this year sees all your most treasured dreams come true (actually, hope you make them come true coz then, the joy is always double of what it would be if it happened automatically!!!). Hope this year keeps you healthy, wealthy and prosperous in all respects and brings you loads of happiness and success...........................

Till next time, this is Slo signing off! Tally ho!!!!!!!

It's Vishu today!

To all my dear South Indian friends reading this blog......Happy Vishu...that is the Tamil/Malayali new year!

Well, Vishu is celebrated every year on the 14th of April. The celebrations are rather sober.....The previous night, a big plate is placed in the puja arena and filled with an assortment of fruits and a couple of vegetables, rice, pulses, money, gold/jewellery and all of these are arranged in such a way that they are reflected in a mirror. Among the things adorning the plate are usually apples,oranges, mangoes (raw and ripe), tomatoes, a snake-gourd, jackfruit, grapes and bananas plus a bowl of rice, dals, some gold/silver and money in the form of coins and notes. The morning of Vishu, we walk blindfolded (as in, with eyes closed) and the first thing that we look into is the plate. The idea is to usher in the new year by first looking at things that please the eyes........it's like this!

You look at all those pulses/rice grains and ask god to give you enough of them to last the year. The fruits/vegetables are a luxury you further seek. And the money and gold are pleasures and richness, fortune and luck that we wish befall us in the year to come! Looking at oneself in the mirror renews the faith that one has in oneself and signals the fact that "Each person is special in this world in their own special way" and that "Everyone of us is one of the beautiful creations of God"!!!! It's all about pleasing the senses in the light of a new dawn that is expected to bring with it new hopes, dreams and opportunities! On this day, people usually wear new clothes as the day is auspicious, new beginnings are made and people visit the temple! (I did, too!) On this day, the elder members of the household give some money to all the younger members as a token gift......

The rest of the celebrations associated with Vishu are in the feast.....there is nothing particular that is to be made or consumed.....just anything that one considers special for the occasion! A sweet dish is a given item on the menu!

So that's about Vishu.....it's celebration time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For me, more than anything, its the spirit of the festival that is exciting...the prospect of actually spending a few moments early in the morning looking at some of the things that we ordinarily wouldn't so much as glance at, to appreciate the goodness of the little things in life and to thank God for each new day!!!! So, Happy New Year once again friends!!!

While at beauty, let me have the honour of presenting my thoughts on true beauty embodied in this poem of mine!!! Hope you like it!!

TRUE BEAUTY

We speak of beauty

As though it's a commodity;

We see beauty in the seas and skies

We also speak of beauty in the face and eyes!

But when we use the term beauty,

With so much variety and diversity;

I doubt whether we really realize

What beauty truly signifies!

When we speak of beautiful faces

We may be pointing at those

Who have striking features

Like hazel eyes and a chiselled nose!

Beauty is often equated with good looks

Like a svelte frame and silky locks

Sadly, the term fails to permeate

That treasure which is innate!

When we speak of the seas and skies

And rains and rainbows

Or thrushes, robins and magpies

And pigeons and crows,

We say that they are replete

With beauty of a kind

That appeals to all the senses

And brings joy to the mind!

What does this imply?

What am I trying to say?

I'm convinced that true beauty

Lasts for longer than a day!

Beauty is not that

Which catches the eye

It is that which penetrates the mind

And gives you a high!

Beauty is not just looks

That would be just pretty

But beauty is more than that

It's a heart of gold and a glimmer in the eye!

It is free-flowing love and compassion

Towards everybody

That makes a person appear beautiful

To all and sundry!

Beauty is that which gives joy

Beauty induces the mind's eye

Beauty satiates all the senses

Beauty is a part of life

Beauty exists in everybody, waiting to show

Beauty is self-evident, in the facial glow

Beauty revels and happiness brings

In all of life's littlest things!!!!

Hope we are all able to spot the beauty in all we see and appreciate it as a means to eternal happiness!!!!!

Tally-ho!!