We may sound overly pessimistic, but we will not apologise for developing such a cynical view as far as Manipur is concerned.

While everyone will be wishing each other Happy New Year, with the dawn of a new calendar year, the essence of the word ‘happy’ will be lost in no long time, for the past has taught us more than once that there are some elements out there who are out to make mincemeat of the term ‘happy’ and make life as miserable as possible for the common people.

For those who belong to the suited, booted, political class, the whole year may be a happy one, but it is this very class which has made sure that the people are deprived of experiencing what a happy life should be all about.

The year just gone by was a big flop by any standard and judging by the manner in which we have stepped into a new year, there is nothing to suggest that things will improve.

On the other hand one may argue, what is so special about the coming of a new year, as it is something which has been arranged by human civilisation to measure the life of a man or the universe.

It is also true that the New Year we are talking today concerns the Gregorian calendar while many other peoples have their own new year according to the lunar calendar.

While this line of thought is perfectly true, technically speaking, one cannot however deny the fact that the human race would be dead if one were to live strictly according to the technicalities of everything, without attaching that something special which only humans can do and that is sentiments and emotions.

In other words the universally accepted New Year has something to do with one's emotions and sentiments and there is always that something special when one looks back at the 365 days that have just gone by.

Looking back and looking forward is then an inseparable part of each New Year and it is along this premise that we have based our observation that there is nothing to look forward to in 2008.

The past has taught us never to expect anything positive from the Government for if there are expectations then surely there are going to be lots of disappointments.

The BT Flyover has been completed and thrown open to the people, but has the new landscape right in the middle of the commercial centre of Imphal done anything good to ease the traffic flow ?

Work on the Imphal Sewerage Project is underway and the question on everyone's lip is not when it will be completed, but whether it will really work or not.

Such is the low standard of governance the Government has set itself, that the people no longer expect anything good from it. To be sure, we can expect some political circus being played out by our political leaders, in their mad scramble for power.

We can expect mischief mongers to come to the fore and gain political mileage. We can expect the State machinery to go overboard in their enthusiasm to show a good report card to New Delhi and yes there will be power cuts and more power cuts.

Running water on the tap will continue to be a luxury even in Imphal. There will be killings and more killings and we can expect some more sons of the soil variety, who think that patriotism is their sole preserve.

Other than this what more can we expect. Yes bandhs, blockades and more bandhs.

Happy New Year to all our readers, patrons and well wishers and we MEAN it.