Dreadful start to New Year as daily cases spike
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 03, 2022 -
CONSIDERING the raucousness with which the New Year was celebrated at residential pockets and on the open streets in Imphal city area amid the imposition of daily curfew from 9 pm to 4 am, it seems that the public do not take detection of Omicron case in the state or the spike in Covid-19 cases across the country as a serious matter.
While it was obvious that the government order restricting mass gathering and festive events to prevent spread of Omicron cases in the state wouldn't generate positive response from the public at-least for the New Year's celebration, what should be concern to all is the sudden upsurge of positive cases in India within a week's period.
It has been a tradition for every community and region to celebrate the beginning of a New Year on different days in a calendar year but the celebration of January 1 is common in majority of the countries, including in the northeast.
This festival is among the oldest and the most universally observed.
As per historical accounts, the earliest known record of a New Year festival dates back to 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia, where in Babylonia the new year (Akitu) began with the new moon after the spring equinox (mid-March) and in Assyria with the new moon nearest the autumn equinox (mid-September).
After the celebration continued to be observed in different months, the Gregorian calendar adopted in 1582 by the Roman Catholic Church, is learnt to have restored January 1 as the New Year's Day, with most countries gradually following suit.
Many countries in southeast Asia and middle-east following different faiths continue to observe the beginning of the year on days other than January 1.
However, the customs of New Year festivals is similar in all parts of the world as it notes the passing of time with regret and anticipating a better one.
The practice of making resolutions to rid oneself of bad habits and to adopt better ones also dates back to ancient times with symbolic foods often the main part of the festivities.
Because of the belief that what a person does on the first day of the year foretells what he will do for the remainder of the year, gatherings of friends and relatives have long been significant.
This is exactly the reason why announcements made by government authorities to prevent unwanted incidents during the celebration have had no serious takers, especially among the youngsters.
As it is that time of the year when one bids adieu to the old year and welcomes the new one with outstretched arms, hope, zeal to work towards our goals and new dreams, every sane person would be hoping that in-spite of the imminent onset of the third wave as is evident from India's daily cases shooting to 27,553 on the New Year day from a lowly 6531 on December 26 last, year 2022 would not be a repeat of the past two years which had been difficult for everybody consequent to the spread of the coronavirus.
Moreover, every citizen would be wishing that the government will lead in doing the needful to prevent our loved ones from falling prey to the virus.
It is equally important that the public realise sooner than later that together the virus could be defeated through strict adherence to the universal precautionary measures formulated by the experts failing which it is only natural that the New Year will be no different than last year when remaining in isolation and in fear were the norms.
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