A multi-hued New Year
CHENNAI: The first month of every new year is like that fresh pack of Complan or Boost that promises everything you ever need — memory, health, clinically proven stamina, and ample vigour. Resolutions are formulated well in advance, perhaps by mid-December, along with New Year’s Eve plans. Armed with a fierce resolve to make it all happen, Indian households have always birthed a million warriors on the first of January every year.
Despite the weariness of the midnight celebration to welcome the dawn of a brand new year, these newly emerging champions set forth by mid-day, in the quest to conquer the list of recently prepared pledges. Every gym in every bylane registers full attendance with born-today fitness buffs jostling for space to flex their yet-to-be-discovered and then be moulded muscles.
Music classes reverberate with the enthusiasm of voices that have taken the step to try formal training after mentally harassing a dozen WhatsApp groups and every hapless listener at a gathering with out-of-tune numbers. Old track pants and sneakers are fished out to head for Zumba classes and jogging/walking paths. The country has never been busier than when the new year arrives annually.
But alas, most resolutions have a way of fizzling out, much like the New Year’s Eve party fireworks. The numbers trickling into fitness centres and dance classes slowly reduce by the day, until those who eventually remain are the ones who genuinely signed up without the challenge of any fancy list of resolutions to be fulfilled to motivate their purpose. They stay on, well after the year isn’t sparkling anymore, out of passion for what they willingly embarked on.
And what of art? Does it also figure even remotely in these grand schemes for the months ahead? Do art classes too see record enrollments at the beginning of every year? The answer sadly is an emphatic ‘No’. Our education system has unfortunately relegated art to an insignificant role in the larger functioning of the universe.
They have, for the most part, been considered an extracurricular activity that could perhaps transform into a relaxing hobby for a lazy Sunday afternoon. One could win a certificate or two at art competitions which could only serve to proclaim one’s all-round performance in a multitude of applications for higher learning and nothing more.
Music and dance classes on the other hand, could help bag various reality TV shows and stage performances at events, thus manufacturing overnight child celebrities. An adult’s list of New Year aspirations too, seldom includes training in art. Art isn’t a life-changing January goal for the year. It has invariably been a summer vacation ploy, cleverly employed by harried mothers to get their offspring away from TV sets and instead, occupied creatively for a few hours.
This year, let us change that. Take it upon yourself to take some time to understand or practise art, the latter being optional. Allow yourself to open up to new ways of thinking by doing so. Watch yourself rethink rigid worldviews and all it takes for all of this, is to redefine your standard list of resolutions for the year. Happy New Year!