Midnight, Dec 31: Life goes on...

NEW DELHI: It all started with adebate — should the New Year celebrations be called off in wake of thetsunami tragedy that shattered the country five days back? For theyoung and the hip, it''s all happening — farm house parties, techno andtrance, glasses of bubbly... but has GenNow forgotten about those who lost allin the tragedy? We decided to find out. Away from the maddening rushof the New Year shopping, Karan, 21, manages to escape from the clutches of hisshopaholic girlfriend to grab a quick bite.Gorging on an extracheese pizza, Karan tells us his New Year plans with full gusto and enthusiasm.But mention ''tsunami'' and he pauses... "The show must go on", saysthe 21-year-old Karan, who believes nothing can fight destiny. "Why should westart the new year mourning over the dead? It was unfortunate, but life stopsfor no one. Period."Despite Karan''s refusal to ''mourn the dead'', hehas contributed to one of the tsunami relief funds. Whatever happened to "theshow must go on"?"Look at it this way," says Karan, "We start thenew year praying for the departed souls and contributing to relief funds; and atthe same time drowning ourselves in the New Year celebrations."WhileKaran and those who like him believe in the ''do your bit and move on theory'' arenumerous, there is the other side of the coin as well. Walking alone on the streets ofJanpath, Tasha claimes she isn''t her usual cheerful self. "I don''t feel the urgeto celebrate this time," she says.So instead of heading out to afarm house as planned earlier, Tasha has decided to stay home. But there areothers partying... "This tragedy ruined the lives of thousands of ourcountrymen," she opines, and frowning, adds, "To each one his own."For Vikram and Kirti, the tsunami washed away their plans of goingto Goa. Reason? Frantic parents who refuse to let them go anywhere near anybeach. "But that''s okay, the party is on at Vikram''s place," they add.And it doesn''t matter that so many are dead? "Hey, ourage group is often tagged as ignorant and callous. That''s not true. I went toGujrat after the Bhuj earthquake with my sister who works for a socialorganisation. The tsunami tragedy has left each one of us baffled and sad, butthere''s nothing much one can do about it."As their group joins them,they take leave making a V-for-peace at us. "This is for those who lost thereloved ones," says one of them. For those who choose to party and forthose who don''t, the message from GenNow is clear — life has to go on, butnot without doing your bit for those who have suffered. Festivities, almostperfectly.