New Year: Another chance at a better world

LUDHIANA: The New Year is not just about dates. Had it been a mere mathematical calculation of the Earth's journey around the Sun, celebrations of a New Year would not have been so universally exuberant.
The New Year symbolizes another chance to make right all the wrongs, both at an individual and social level. That is where New Year resolutions come in.
Sultan Singh, a 23-year-old student from BRS Nagar, has resolved to get romantic misconceptions centering around him fixed by leaving no room for misunderstanding in the next year.
"My New Year resolution is to stop hanging around girls because they think I am in love with them and that creates much confusion," said Sultan.
If Sultan has concerns about his supposed love life, Manil Dhanda, 22, wishes to see some sanity on the roads in his city.
"I will try to obey traffic rules even though I live in a place like Ludhiana where traffic rules are mockery even for the enforcers of law themselves," he said.
Some resolutions are easier made than followed. For city businessman Ricky Makkar, giving up drinking is a resolution better off broken at the outset. "I will control drinking in 2013. I will not drink after sleeping and before waking up," he resolved.
On a serious note, many youngsters are done with the needless violence and futile deaths. Their resolve is to make the world a better place. But the spate of violence has also left many disillusioned. For them, the new year resolution is emigrating to foreign countries in search of a life of dignity.
Manvi Goomber, a 25-year-old resident of Atam Nagar said, "My New Year resolution is to leave the country where democracy is only a concept in books. Where women do not have any social status. I will go and live in a place where people respect women and government does not twiddle its thumbs when something goes wrong."
The bravehearts among us make it clear that they won't take things lying down. Like Malika Vij, a 22-year-old resident of Mayur Vihar. "If a man tries to stalk me or behaves indecently, I will not panic. Instead, I will whack him on the face. I will also learn the art of self defence so that I don't have to depend on unresponsive government officials," she said.