Shillong sparkles with festive cheer as locals, tourists celebrate NY

Shillong: The city of pines and orchids is dazzling with exotic lighting and bustling with locals and visitors alike, all united in celebrating the advent of the new year.A large number of enthusiasts from other states, especially Assam and Bengal, have chosen to spend the year-end and the beginning of the new year amid unblemished nature, even as the year ended on a musical note with concerts held all over the state to usher in the new year.“This is a beautiful and peaceful place,” a lady from Guwahati said, picnicking with her family by the serene Umiam (Barapani) Lake on the outskirts of the city on New Years’ Day. “I like the chill here. It’s challenging,” a man from Nagaon said, draped in woollens and cooking ‘khichuri’, the ‘comfort food’, along with his friends by the lakeside.The Shillong Peak, Mattilang Park, Elephant Falls, Ward’s Lake, Park, Golf Links in the city and other scenic places in the periphery, including the tourist-favourite Laitlum Canyons are abuzz with visitors enjoying the cool climate.At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, a group of ‘ageless’ men from the Forever Young Club dived into the ice-cold waters of the Crinoline Swimming Pool where the mercury was nearing zero degrees Celsius, to ring into the new year.“We herald in the new year with lots of fun and frolic between friends. We have our party either in one of the hotels or in a friend’s place,” a teenager said.“New year means spending time with family and friends. As we are busy with work throughout the year, new year is the time to share joys with family members and close friends around a bonfire, as the children too are all home for the winter vacation,” a school teacher said.