Home, safe and warm

BANGALORE: Not all families are planning to hit the party circuit this New Year. For the Nayaks of Malleswaram west, it's about staying home together, watching TV and ordering food in. They've been indulging in such quiet celebrations for at least two years now.
"I feel it's a lot better than take a mad ride through Bangalore traffic. This time, the New Year begins on a weekend, so even the malls will be crowded and it's difficult to move about with a two-year old kid.Nowadays, we prefer outings days or even weeks before or after the New Year,'' says Archana Rao Nayak, the homemaker in this small family of three.
They are not the only families with such plans. Down south in Srinagar, Basavanagudi area, Smitha Madhusudan, 31, who lives in a joint family, also hopes for a quiet family get-together on December 31, cutting a cake with her two daughters at midnight.
"This is just for the kids. For us, Ugadi is the real new year. Earlier, we used to go out on New Year's. But for the past two years, it's confined to being home as Bangalore has really become unsafe for families and it's really not easy with small kids,'' she told The Times of India. Smitha also recalls what her friends who attended the party on MG Road last year, had to say about the experience: "Even as they were there as husband and wife, they had a tough time. Hearing about it, my in-laws also now prefer that we celebrate safely at home and have no regrets about it.''