As the clock inched closer to midnight, the crowds swelled steadily, till there was barely any space left on the road. Policemen patrolled the sands of the Elliot’s Beach on a beach buggy and a tractor, making sure no one stepped into the water. Campaigns against drunken driving seemed to be irrelevant as happily high New Year revellers screamed their lungs out in an attempt to take part in the casting away of 2012 and the welcoming of 2013.
In all, it was a pretty clean New Year celebration at Besant Nagar. Police had blocked off the roads leading up to the beach, meaning revellers had to park some distance away and walk to the seafront to take part in the mass hysteria of screaming and initiating a new calendar.
The evening was simple. All those who wouldn’t be able to stay out at night, especially school and college kids, came to the beach in groups. Once the sun went down, policemen and local businesses braced themselves for the crowds that would surround them in a few hours time.
The road abutting the beach was not too crowded till about 9.30 pm. That’s when the crowds slowly started trickling in. As the arms of the clocks went around in their usual circles, more and more people started heading eastward.
The trickle turned into a deluge by 11 pm, making it difficult for anyone attempting to walk away from the epicentre of the revelry. Many of them making their way eastward screamed New Year greetings to all and sundry, shaking hands and hugging absolute strangers.
A good many of the revellers were drunk and attempts by policemen to scare them fell on deaf ears. They had come to the beach with a purpose — to scream.
A palpable sense of excitement gripped the crowds as the clock drew closer to midnight. Some groups started a loud countdown. Some prepared to cut cakes. When all three arms of the clock came together in the upright position, the beach front instantly turned into an unadultered eruption of sound. Even the cops on duty at the spot, who had been wearing serious expressions so far, were not spared the infectious goodwill of the revelling crowd. But the cops soon had to play cops, and started asking people to leave the area by around 1 am. .
It was not till most of the beach front revellers tried to make their way back home did they realise they would have to brave traffic that would put a working day’s rush hour to shame.