The New Year

Another year is past. I've learnt a lot, hurt a lot, laughed a lot but most important, loved a lot. It has been a year spent away from home, away from those I care about. But it has been a year spent maturing, much like fine wine, I hope. :D

I went to a new year's eve party at the DSOI ( Defence Service Officers Institute ) at Delhi with my cousin and friend. It was a tragedy. It was really cold but that was to be expected. It was also suddenly and incredibly, foggy. But that was rather beautiful. No, it wasn't nature that spoiled the party for me but the people there.

There were just too many of them, for one. The place was overcrowded. There were 3 dance floors with a DJ each! And that was just to accommodate the people that dance! Other's like me were just sitting around, chatting and catching up with acquaintances. I was there for the eating. Which was a major let down. There were queues everywhere. First, a queue to get the food coupons. Then a queue to get the food ( which wasn't great either, the stuff I had was just about passable ). Then there was the queue for the drinks. Actually, calling it a queue gives quite the wrong picture of an orderly lining up of decent people. If you saw these guys, you'd think they were giving the stuff for free! People were pushing and yelling to be served first. The counters actually ran out of glasses later in the evening! All we wanted were a couple of juices and they were out of those. Of course, we had to stand in the line for 10 odd minutes to find that out. Why they couldn't have separate counters for the soft and hard drinks is beyond me.

There weren't enough chairs either. We were lucky enough to turn up early and get a good table, near an angeethi. People kept coming to us throughout the evening to ask if they could take the chairs we were keeping. One lady even remarked, on being told that they were occupied, that '...but there's no one sitting there now. You can't reserve them like that...'. Of course we can! We came early and we're keeping seats for the rest of our group! Where are they expected to sit once they turn up? You should've sent someone else early to save you some places!

As midnight approached, more and more folks were inebriated and the empty bottles and glasses that could be found bore the brunt of their joy at welcoming another year. And of course, there were the usual fracas over stupid things.

I hate these parties. And I hadn't ever been for one at this scale so the actual intensity of my hate didn't become apparent till now. The guys who attend are usually idiots. They come to get drunk and hit on girls. They're disgusting. I really can't comment on the girls. Going to one of these quite defeats the purpose of celebration. There is nothing to celebrate. Having to watch all those cretins around you makes you think twice about the condition of the populace in general. And makes me feel more and more depressed about the state of affairs of Life. The Universe. And Everything. All the more reason to be thankful for the day off on the 1st of January.

The only good thing, according to me, to come of these events is that you often bump into old friends that you've lost touch with. This of course, is from an Army function point of view, because small world as it is, it’s even smaller in the Army circle.

So there you have it. My new year did not roll in in a very fun manner. I was fed up of the party. And the parties involved. I just wanted to go home, snuggle into my blanket with a warm mug of soup and watch something fun on laptop.

But I guess, the New Year is only what we make of it. And I hope you and I have an even better year this time.

No comments: