Welcome
‘New Year 2018’ - celebrate, party, enjoy - in a saner way !!!
The
movie – Rollerball released in 1975 a science fiction sports action film, was
set in year 2018, stated as "the not too distant future” – was a violent,
globally popular sport around which the events of the film take place. The object of the game is for the team in
possession of the ball to score points by throwing a softball-sized steel ball
into the goal, which is a magnetic, cone-shaped area inset into the wall of the
arena. Rollerball is a full-contact
sport in which players have considerable leeway to attack opposing players in
order to take or maintain possession of the ball and to score points.
Just
a day to go, rather few hours to go - it is time to rollick and celebrate. Before we (in India) could do that people of
Kiribati would be enjoying. The New Year
celebrations around the World are far varied and widespread. In Australia spectacular New Year Eve
fireworks are burst. Many other countries plan
massive pyrotechnic displays.
People venture to islands, go for sky walk, para-glide,
plan their party in Ships, night time bash in star hotels charging
differently for couple and stags and champagne might flow unabated, hearing DJs
blare favourtie tunes, dance floors with
celebrities, .. Revelries, dance, consuming whatever one
desires, being with whomsoever they adore, making merry – all are individual’s
wish and reach. In many apartments,
people get together to enjoy food, music and friendship. Enjoy and make merry – it is individual
desire and way of reacting to events.
Love
it or hate it, many people feel
compelled to count in the New Year at midnight, whether celebrating at a party
or freezing outside watching fireworks.
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve , is on December 31. In many
countries, celebrations generally go on past midnight into January 1 (New
Year's Day).
Fireworks
displays are being tweaked and partygoers are taking up position as Australia
prepares to bring in 2018 with a bang.Melbourne is putting on its biggest show
of the year tonight in the CBD, with 14 tonnes of fireworks set to be launched from the top of 22
city buildings for New Year's Eve festivities.Between 300,000 and 500,000
people are expected to converge on the city for the night.In Sydney, crowds
have been building since early yesterday with revellers securing spots around
Sydney Harbour, despite soaring temperatures.This
year's fireworks will also celebrate the same-sex marriage vote and the 40th
anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with a rainbow cascade off the
Harbour Bridge.
Let
2018 unleash a million reasons to smile!
In one posh hotel in the City, the
New Year extravaganza offers beverages - Whisky - Chivas Regal 12 years
and Ballantine's; Vodka – Absolut; Rum – Bacardi; Red Wine - Jacob's Creek
Cabernet Shiraz – all for an early bird couple price of Rs.29999/- only – there
are hundreds of restaurants in Chennai city itself and all of them could be
full !
Last year, as
Britain celebrated the beginning of the year, pictures taken
revealed many woken with a very sore head next morning and
some may even had to sleep in a police cell or a hospital bed. From Swansea to
Manchester, Birmingham to London, and Liverpool to Newcastle, partygoers were
drunk and dishevelled as they spilled out of bars, clubs and parties and onto
the streets last night. And in some
instances they ended up on the wrong side of the law, with Scotland Yard
revealing that 100 people were arrested for drunken, violent or sexual crimes
during the celebrations in central London. Meanwhile Ambulance trusts said they
received one phone call every 15 seconds that
night as they dealt with the results of excessive drinking.
Chennai
is no different – the Buhari hotel would get spruced up for the late night bash –at midnight, group of youth would gather on
roads, drink, drive crazily, shout and disturb,
annoy, rattle, enrage and even cause harm to others………. What is this about and what would this
merriment provide to anybody ? Everybody
knows that drunken driving causes majority of accidents during New Year Eve and
most claims are viewed with suspicion by the Insurers when they are reported
closer to New Year. The City Police
keeps a big patrol on road. Nearly
10,000 police personnel would be deployed on security duty for New year
celebrations in the city. A couple of
years back unsavoury incidents took place in Mumbai beach on New year Eve ~
sure most of us have forgotten.
As large number of people would throng the beach
front, traffic restrictions and changes would be imposed in the Marina and East
Coast Road, the favourites spots for the revelleries. Beach road, Marina beach,
Elliots beach, ECR, Mount road are some of the places where some incidents and some
accidents get reported every year.
Besides the road accidents, Chennaites should remember the grisly
incident at a famous hotel a couple of years ago.
A
few decades ago, New Year would usher in with hundreds of ‘Greeting Cards’
personally written wishes from relatives and friends that would make one
happy. That was the time when people
thronged Post Offices for Post cards, Inland letters and covers – are they
still in use ? – then e-mail took over ; now even sending e-mail is considered
old-fashioned in the era of Facebook, twitter and other medias. How many of us know the price of a Post card
or Inland leter…
Australian
media reports that about $65,000 worth of pyrotechnics will be fired from a
barge in the first of two shows in Hobart, but the main event will blast off
some 12-inch shells — the largest available in Australia.(please do not remember anything of what people spoke
during Deepavali, on the need for protecting environment and keeping away from
crackers and fireworks !!)
Eight
fatal accidents were reported in the city in the beginning of 2017, said Chennai
city police. City police seem to have
found a solution to curb overspeeding and drunk driving on city roads on during
New Year eve - a menace that endangers lives of riders and public every year.
The top brass of the city police has informed that details of traffic violators
on New Year's eve will be kept in the commissioner's office and if the violator
applies for passport, police "No objection Certificate" (NOC) will be
denied.Public are supposed to use service lanes under the flyovers,” the
officer added. Accident prone stretches
in the city have been identified such as Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR), East Coast
Road, KamarajarSalai and the roads would be heavily barricaded with blinkers.
City police have planned to put up 176 vehicle checkpoints and about 3,500
traffic personnel would be deployed on duty across the city. Service roads
along the city beaches - Marina and Elliots - will be closed for traffic and
separate parking spots will be allotted, police said.
So,
Welcome the New Year 2018 – enjoy and make merry – be cautious on thy self and
care for others also. Every New year the
brash celebrations, spells trouble for
the Police and law-abiding citizens. In the melee, Police are lenient and
generally do not book people for
over-speeding or drunken driving – more than 18000 cops were on the streets –
Are not human lives and limbs precious..
are there not better ways of celebrating
the New Year. Is there real need for
continuing the legacy of the colonial rule ?
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
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