Ring out the old, ring in the new
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: January 01, 2024 -

IT'S that time of the year again when everyone around the world would like to take an introspective look at the days gone by and plan for the days ahead.

However, with barely hours away from bidding adieus to the year 2023, the greater part of which got wasted in the violent ethnic conflict that broke out between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities since May 3 last, it would be downright insensitive to ask anyone living in the tiny strife-torn northeastern Indian state of Manipur how they are going to celebrate moving forward from an old year to the new year.

Apart from the loss of hundreds of precious human lives and displacement of thousands of families on both sides of the clash divide, not to speak of putting people of all communities living in this multi-ethnic society through untold sufferings despite their neutral stance; everyone in Manipur today is in grief and bereavement, regardless of whether one has lost their loved ones or not in the current conflict.

Every life that had been snuffed out prematurely in the violent conflict between Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities is a great loss not just for the bereaved family or the affected community alone but for the entire human race.

Like any conflict, the ongoing violent confrontation between Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities may get over one day, but the life in Manipur would never be the same again, with one group of people suspicious of every act carried out by any group, howsoever, good intentions, they may be.

This is the sad reality with which the people in Manipur have to live their life and manoeuvre their existence, especially in the light of the fact that solution to the current humanitarian crisis is still a far cry away and no one knows whether the leaders of the two warring communities would ever come to their senses and allow the suffering people to breathe a sigh of relief.

Yet, it is human nature to overcome every obstacle and strive for the better by learning from the past mistakes and ensuring that the same mistakes are not repeated, for life is too short and precious to be wasted on committing the same mistake over and over again.

So, regardless of the current unenviable situation in which everyone in Manipur is today, it would be good to take some time off and have not just an introspective but also a retrospective look at the days gone by and make plan for the days ahead.

We need to think over things that we could have done differently, so that the same mistake is not repeated.

However, this should not be done with an obsession over the past mistakes that were committed inadvertently or otherwise.

This should be done with the sole objective of avoiding possible pitfalls while making plans for a better future.

Having said this, we can't help but share the beautiful thoughts immortalised by English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) in his poem "Ring Out Wild Bells", which is the concluding part of his long elegy "In Memoriam", wherein he spoke about casting aside everything that was sad and bad about the year that has passed and rung in a new year with all the ways the world could change for the better.

...Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow. The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good. Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.