Ring out the old, ring in the new
By D.C. Sharma

NEW Year is celebrated differently in different cultures and countries all over the world. In Hungary, a pig is let loose in the house during the New Year celebrations, and whosoever can manage to touch its tail is considered to be the luckiest person on earth ! They call this celebration "Silvester Night."

In China, the New Year celebrations are marked with fireworks and masked dances. Such celebrations symbolise that the dead and the living people are like the old and the new years.

The Tibetans do not sweep or clean their houses on the first day of New Year. They think that throwing something out of the house on this day may make them lose something during the year.

In Scotland, the first person to cross the threshold of a house on New Year is called the "first footer." He is welcomed with open arms. If he happens to be a black-haired person, he is supposed to bring good luck to the house. If he brings sweets or drink, he is supposed to bring good luck to the inhabitants of the house.

The Japanese celebrate New Year’s Day by wearing new clothes. They decorate their houses with pine branches and fresh bamboo. To them, these symbolise a long, happy and prosperous life.

New Year does not fall on the same day for all communities and races. Parsis treat March 21 as New Year’s day. Since Emperor Jamshed was the ruler of Persia when such celebrations were started, their New Year is also known as Jamshed Navroz.

In North India, the first day of Chaitra (the first month of the desi calendar) is considered New Year’s Day.

Gujarat, a state dominated by businessmen, begins its New Year with Divali. The worship of goddess Lakshmi with a silver coin covered with vermilion marks the beginning of New Year for Gujaratis.

The Chinese and Indonesians celebrate two New Year days. While the Chinese celebrate January 1 and another day according to their lunar calendar, the Indonesians celebrate January 1 as the official New Year and hold another celebration on the Islamic New Year’s Day.

The Greeks begin their New Year with the new moon after June 21. The Roman New Year started on March 1 before the time of Julius Caesar. During the Middle ages, New Year began on March 25 in most European countries.

During the ancient and medieval times, March 25 used to be New Year’s Day even in England. During the Anglo-Saxons rule in England, the Christmas day was taken as New Year’s day. It was the Gregorian calendar which shifted the New Year’s day to January 1. This calendar was framed during the period of Pope Gregory XIII in the late 16th century. France and the Netherlands adopted this calendar in December 1582, the Catholic states of Germany in 1584, Poland in 1586, the Protestant churches of Germany and Switzerland in 1700, England and its colonies and Sweden adopted it in 1752.

January was named after Janus, the Roman god of doors and gates. As every door faces two ways so Janus is commonly shown with two heads, one facing backward and the other facing forward. So appears the beginning of January as it has the new year on its front and the old year on its back.

The Romans prayed to Janus before beginning any important work . There seems to be an amazing similarity between the sanctity attached to Janus and our Hindu God, Ganesha. This elephant-headed god is also worshipped before starting any important work. Just as the Romans prayed to Janus even before seeking blessing from Jupiter, the god of gods, the Hindus too worship Lord Ganesha before bowing to the mighty Shiva.

A Roman legend has it that the Roman calendar in 700 BC had only 10 months. It was the ruler Numa Pompitius who added January and February at the end of this calendar. He had made these months of 30 days each. But the Romans shifted January and February at the beginning of this calendar. In 46 BC, Roman statesman Julius Caesar made January of 31 days and February of 28 days (with the latter comprising 29 days during the leap years). Anglo-Saxons called January the wolf month as wolves entered villages in search of food during this cold month.

Even though different countries might celebrate New Year in different ways, there sparkles a universal truth behind such celebrations! Sad and happy moments are part and parcel of human life. Glorious and gloomy events mark the calendar of every year. Thus goes the cycle of life and death, sorrow and happiness. "If winter comes, can spring be far behind!" remarked P.B.Shelly, the great romantic poet of England.

The New Year celebrations have added to the English vocabulary too. The expression "pin-money" originated from the customary New Year celebrations in England. Earlier, pins were made with hand and involved a lot of labour. They were very expensive as well. On New Year’s eve husbands would give their wives money to buy enough decoration pins to last them for the whole year. Thus was coined " pin-money".

Now fancy New Year cards, attractive diaries, and wonderful costly gifts mark New Year’s eve. The sentiments behind such courtesies have more value than the money spent on such presents.

While celebrating the arrival of New Year, it should never be forgotten that old is gold. Though we "ring out the old and ring in the new," the new also includes the better part of the old. "Only the useless and harmful past should be rung out," Jawaharlal Nehru had once said while talking of religion, science and philosophy. And this is what T.S. Eliot meant when he talked of tradition and individual talent.

True, New Year is the ideal time to leave behind the mistake and follies of the past, and renew our hopes for a better future.