I am feeling rather nostalgic now that the time has come to write on New Year resolutions.
I remember how at age seven I firmly resolved and tied a knot on an old handkerchief to remind me not to pilfer the small chocolates that my father kept for me. I had to say a polite thank you when I got one after lunch and dinner. It was part of my upbringing in those days to be polite. But no matter, I did pilfer them. I never ever kept to the resolution unless I was sick with worm trouble having eaten too many unscheduled ones.
Then there was the matter of the full pettiocoat, yes full, that one I had to wear to school which I crumpled up conveniently poked it into an empty doll's box and sallied forth to school with the face I believe of an angel.
I never kept to this resolution too. As I came into my teens I resolved not to make eyes at every handsome boy cycling down my lane. I gave them all soulful looks but could not talk to them with the ayaamma close by. But this resolution, too was kept in the breach.
At university we liked to resolve to keep to that coy wilting look partly to keep some of the sweaty grim boys out. But it resulted in keeping away even those handsome young men and so I broke my resolution and started making love lorn eyes at some.
At work now I plan to keep the chief sub editor in a good mood in 1997 by giving my copy in time and not asking him later to insert one of my very bright ideas which should have gone in.
I am also trying to resolve not to play favourites and interview the big shots, men, I mean. I think in the New Year I will give the others a chance too.
I hope my editor does not read this. We do have favourites. I most certianly do. The late President Jayewardene was one of them.
I am also resolving not to shout like a banshee at its demented best when drivers drive badly and especially of those scooters and motor cyclists. I suggest that the police make a New Year resolution to control these twin menaces on the road.
Finally I do wish you all The Sunday Times readers a very happy New Year and good reading with The Sunday Times prefered we hope to most others, in 1997.
"The log was burning brightly,
'Twas a night that should banish
all sin,
For the bells were ringing the old year out,
And a New Year
in."
-(William Godwin)
The atmosphere is electric. Sophistication the key word. Folks both young and old dancing their cares away....the band starts the final countdown, and within minutes the New Year is heralded in. The revellers dance until the wee hours of the morning, and finally decide to call it a day, anxious to return home to their loved ones. Everyone is in a festive mood......
Driving along some of the streets in Colombo, the sight that beholds them is in stark contrast to the "Five Star Dance". The atmosphere is incomparable.........poverty the key word. Abandoned children, homeless people sleeping along the street. Do they know where their next meal is coming from? Can they even dream of a better tomorrow? What does the New Year hold for them? Unfulfilled dreams? Shattered hopes?
Of course those who spend lavishly on New Year's Eve, constitute a very small proportion of the population, and to them spending even about Rs 20,000/- on one night would really not affect their budgets much. After all New Year's Eve comes only once a year, so why not "enjoy it"? Sacrificing one night day enjoyment would not make much difference in the lives of those who live in abject poverty. There are also many affluent people who give parcels to the needy on New Year's Eve.
The ever soaring cost of living is something we all have to contend with, but it is the "middle class" or poor people that are affected the most. Some families survive on a meagre monthly salary of about Rs 2,750- almost the same price as tickets for a New Year's Eve Dance in some five star hotels. Thus is it fair to spend so much on just one night?
A majority of the people "The Sunday Times" spoke to said it is really a choice of the individual, but people should know to strike some sort of a "balance" and be more sensitive to what is going on around them. People should realize that we are experiencing difficult times, and try to lend a helping hand to those in need.
There are also people who have "house parties" on New Years Eve, thus minimizing cost, while some of the younger people patronise a "disc" or less formal dance which is not as expensive as a dance in a Five Star hotel. Some of the young people the "Sunday Times" spoke to said they budget for the "31st Night" and hence they do not feel that it is a waste of money. However, some of the others said that it is a crime to spend about Rs 2,500 on a dance ticket, and the fact that some actually do this cannot really be justified.
"This is more than the basic salary of some public servants, and the more affluent should learn to spend their money wisely, with at least a little consideration for those who cannot even dream of having some of the material benefits they possess," they said.
New Year's Eve has been celebrated in all parts of the world only after the "expansion of Europe". However, while for many of us it will be another day to party, the significance of the year ahead must not be forgotten. It is a time for new beginnings, a time to set oneself goals and challenges that should be achieved within that year .
The Sunday Times also spoke to a cross-section of people, to find out how they spend New Year's eve, and what it really means to them.
Holiday Inn Travels Sales Manager Artith Rathna-vibushana said;
"Being a musician, earlier I used to be stuck on with the band, however, these past few years I have tended to spend New Year's Eve with the family. But this year I will have to co-ordinate some of the events at the hotel, and will also be taking my wife with me. To me every New Year marks a new beginning, and a time to look forward to the year ahead. Deciding how one spends New Year's eve, really depends on the individual and the way he has been brought up.
"For instance you might sacrifice going to a dance and give that money to a poor family, but on the other hand they might not spend it wisely. I do feel sad for the less fortunate, but sacrificing just one night is not going to really change the situation much," he said.
"My wife and I generally go out for dinner, either to a friend's place or a restaurant with a few close friends, which I find to be very enjoyable. The children are not kids any more, and they do their own thing. Spending extravagantly on New Year's eve, is I feel, a choice of the individual" said John Keells Holdings Chairman Ken. Balendra.
Mayukha Perera who is a youth worker approaches in a religious way. "New Year's eve is significant in that it is a time to focus on God and ask Him to lead you to the year that is about to begin. My wife and I go for the watchnight service, as I feel that it is symbolic to be praying as the New Year dawns. It is also a time for thanking God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us during the past year. Once the service is over we usually visit friends and relatives. I feel sad, that in a country where there is so much poverty, people are numb to pain and suffering that is undergone by many. We should be more sensitive to what is happening around us," he said.
The carolling season, which came upon us some days before Christmas, will not be over till January 6th the Feast of the Epiphany, the traditional Twelfth Night after Christmas.
That was the day on which the three Magi, who followed the star, were said to have arrived in Bethlehem.
Carols are joyous hymns or songs dealing with the birth of Christ, but they sometimes have references to the secular.
That was particularly true of what the early singing "waits" in England sang, outside peopleÕs homes, and were usually rewarded with food and gifts at this time of year.
Catchy tunes like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" or snappy secular ones like this one usually sung as a round were a popular part of old English Christmases :
"Christmas is coming
The goose is getting fat
Please to put a
penny
In the old man's hat."
But such levity did not over-shadow the sentiments expressed in religious carols from earliest times.
Christmas hymns and songs date from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in England. But ones like the French "Noel" are said to be older.
Many beautiful carols have come to us from France, Germany, Bavaria, Italy, Mexico and other countries.
Of particular interest to us are carols of Portuguese origin, about the Jesu Bilinda, with catchy Kaffiringha tunes, translated into Sinhala by the late Rev. D.F.R. Wijesinghe, and thoroughly enjoyed by children growing up in the late twenties and thirties.
One remembers at this time, with deep affection, Mrs. R.A. Spencer - Sheppard, who shared her British heritage with us in the singing class at school.
Among her introductions to us were the ancient "Boar's Head Carol" and the "Wassail Song".
The latter was symbolic of the joy and good cheer of this season. The word "wassail" is steeped in tradition and is part and parcel of the old English and Scottish Christmases.
It is Norwegian in origin and comes from the words "was heil" meaning "good health".
Wassail songs were sung by strolling carol singers, who filled the streets with these music. These words have been revised from an old Anglo-Saxon carol:
"Here we come a - wassailing
Among the leaves so green....
...Love and joy come to you
And to you your wassail too,
God bless you
and send you
A happy New Year
God send you a happy New Year."
My first carol service of the season was presented by the Cantata Singers conducted by Satyendra Chellapah at the Kollupitiya Methodist Church.
It was a melodious and discerningly chosen programme of music, prose and poetry, celebrating and glorifying the birth of Christ. Included was the apt poem for the times by Eleanor Sarjeon.
"A glad New Year to all,
Since many a tear, Do what we can, must
fall...
The greater need to wish a glad New Year.
Since lovely youth
is brief,
O girl and boy,
And no one can escape a share of grief ...
I wish you joy.
Since hate is with us still
I wish men love.
I
wish, since hovering hawks still strike to kill,
The coming of the dove.
And since the ghouls of terror and despair
Are still abroad,
I
wish the world once more within the care
Of those who have seen God."
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