Another year has fleeted past ! ~ 2019 is gone and year 2020 has born. 2020 is a leap year and would it make any changes in your lives ? – is there hope, fear or just no expectations at all !
Years add
one more to your age ! – exactly an 100 years ago, occurred ‘First Red Scare’. The
First Red Scare was a period in the
United States marked by a widespread fear of Bolshevism and anarchism, due to
real and imagined events; real events included the Russian Revolution and
anarchist bombings. At its height in 1919–1920, concerns over the effects of
radical political agitation in American society and the alleged spread of
communism and anarchism in the American labor movement fuelled a general sense
of concern. The year 1920 also marked
the coming into effect of ‘Treaty of Versailles’ that brought the raging World War I to an end. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles,
exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which
had directly led to the war but took 6 months to come into effect.
This
year too there were crowds in Marina beach heralding the New Year 2020 at the
drop of midnight. There were shrills,
shrieks, sirens and other sounds. There wre
many fire-crackers too, making one wonder, what the fuss about Deepavali and
eco-impact were ! While fireworks exploding over Sydney harbour
usually symbolises the start of global New Year festivities for most Brits, it
may surprise you to hear that Australia is not the first country in the world
to welcome the New Year.
New Year is first celebrated
on the small Pacific island nations of Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati. New Zealand
follows next in celebrating the New Year, followed by Australia, Japan, and
South Korea, while the last place to celebrate New Year is Bakers Island. The Pacific island of Tonga is first to ring
in the New Year and celebrated at 10am GMT on December 31 - making the tiny
island nation the first to head into a fresh year. After travelling all around the world, the
New Year eventually comes full circle – or near enough. The last place or
places to ring in 2020 will be the tiny outlying islands of the US. Baker
Island and Howland Island will see the New Year at 12pm GMT on January 1 – but
as it's uninhabited, we tend to forget about it.
When
I say, 1st Jan is just another day and that New Year should be welcomed in a
saner way ! ~ many are likely to frown .. .. yet, I have been witnessing
disturbing trends over the past decade or so .. – tomorrow when I walk on beach road,
certainly I do not want to see another mangled bike .. .. accident by a tipsy
nervy youth !! ~ but today’s media showed couple of accidents and some youths
arguing with the Police after they were rounded up in the arterial Mount Road
for over speeding ! 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. The
partying and revelry drops to late or early mornings too.
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…
As the city raced
towards the finish line of 2019 on a musical high from Margazhi, sabhas are
busy putting together their own itineraries to welcome the New Year in a way
that will be memorable. At many city
sabhas, audiences will be treated to freshly brewed filter coffee and delicious South Indian meals too, not to
miss out the bondas. For others, Chennai City Police had made elaborate arrangements for crowd control
and traffic management to tide over New Year celebrations safely. More than
15,000 police personnel were on duty. This
day, I visited D3 Police Stations only to observe that all the Police cops were
severely drained, devoid of sleep engaged in patrolling and crowd control for
the New Year.
Hours
after ringing in the New Year with much cheer, joy and fireworks, residents of
Chennai woke up to a pleasant surprise as heavy rains descended on the city. Around
6 a.m., showers began in several areas of the city - Meteorological department officials
said these rains are the result of Northeast monsoon activity and are likely to
taper off in a few.
Sadly, we would be
reading in newspapers tomorrow of some deaths on city roads arising out New
Year revelry. Down under, furious Australians have branded Sydney's firework
display a 'slap in the face' after organisers decided to go ahead with the
world-famous celebration despite wildfires raging across the country. The multi-million dollar display lit up the
night sky over Sydney Harbour on Tuesday night as thousands of locals and
tourists flocked to ring in the new decade, but the joy was not shared
elsewhere.
Hundreds
of bushfires have destroyed dozens of homes in New South Wales and Victoria,
killed at least 12 people and left another five missing in Australia's worst
summer season in decades. Witnessing
the fireworks amid the devastation, one person tweeted: 'My parents are without
power, their town is cut off, and the southerly is blowing another fire towards
them. A fireworks show feels like a huge slap in the face.' Another added:
'Members of my family are spending tonight huddled together on a boat ramp
waiting while bushfires bear down, and our PM is throwing a party.' Sydney went ahead with its New Year firework
display despite calls for it to be cancelled amid wildfires raging across the
country.
4,000 people got
trapped on a beach in the town of Mallacoota, in Victoria state, after being
surrounded by out-of-control bushfires which turned the sky blood red. As the city's famous skyline was lit up with colourful
pyrotechnics, thousands remained trapped on a beach in the coastal town of
Mallacoota amid apocalyptic scenes after getting surrounded by raging
bushfires. Responding to calls to cancel
the event and reallocate the funding to fire-affected regions, Sydney mayor
Clover Moore said planning for the fireworks began 15 months ago and most of
the budget had already been allocated. The event was also a boost to New South
Wales' economy. Moore added that people viewing the fireworks around the
harbour will see a donation link projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge
pylons throughout the night. Meanwhile, haunting pictures from Mallacoota show
how the sky turned blood red as smoke from nearby fires shrouded the sun and
reduced visibility to just a few yards. Witnesses told how ash and embers were
raining from the skies accompanied by a deafening roar from the flames, while
the sound of exploding gas canisters could be heard in the distance as the
fires closed in.
Is not New Year
just another day ?
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
1st Jan
2020.
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