The New Year is upon us and my really simple wishes

 The New Year is upon us and my really simple wishes 

Dinesh K Kapila

The year 2026 is just about upon us. A day more and it’s done. What can I say except that enter the new year with a light mind, shed your regrets, pains and negativities and travel lightly into the New Year. But then the new year triggers so many wishes and thoughts. It plays on your mind. It creates its own stream of myriad reflections, you lose a few friends who fade out of your life, some fade out of life itself, you make new acquaintances and friends, the labyrinths of the mind twist and turn and throw up new ideas and possibilities. 

As the above does indicate, as a simple minded person I take pleasure in the less complex nuances of life. What could be my simple set of wishes for the new year. They may not really happen. They could just be a set of  fond thoughts, playing in the recesses of my mind, bubbling up when the new year approaches. And then maybe ebbing away. Maybe not really realistic. But what the hell, they are there. Why not share them! 

May the financial markets wake up, specially the stock markets. This stress based testing of our skills has gone on long enough. We deserve a break. And may Silver continue to appreciate instead of fluctuating in prices so wildly. 

One fond wish, maybe we can read up on the place we travel to. About the weather and the location and the requirements. And why do some ladies think to travel abroad on vacation is to wear a skirt or a short dress, even if it sits awkwardly or the confidence or poise  is not there. And could we all talk at a lower decibel level. Really. No loud singing at any locale too. 

One wish, maybe, just maybe, the men in India could lose their pronounced protruding belly !  You will at times see a thin weedy specimen of a male, the only significant set of fat sits on the belly, protruding at nearly ninety degrees to the chest. And many a times it’s like a football, round, rotund, it has a clearly defined personality of it’s own. Literally as an appendage. Retailers of clothes have even developed shirts for the typical belly most of us have. Now, maybe, just maybe, these bellies may reduce, lose their pronounced significant protrusion. Not immediately, maybe only a trend would do.  And better fitness. So reduced bellies it is. 

And then some of our ladies. Fitness is one thing. By God, many are unfit. Watch them at airports, knees and legs going in opposite directions. Many waddle. But my grouse is different. Nail paint. It’s gone fluorescent. It’s shiny. It reflects the lights. Brightly. It hurts the eyes. And people wearing spectacles like me can suffer from the glare. Wear the shiny bright metallic yellows, whites, greens, mauve, reds, to a function if you have to, then go over to the sophisticated subdued colours. On other days. It’s just a hope. An expectation. Maybe colours in consonance with the skin tone if nothing else ! Please spare us. 

Maybe youngsters would play more. Sports. This is one fond expectation. I have observed groups of youngsters sitting around, in circles, competing on mobile games. Not one would get up for a run. It’s all tablets and mobiles. Could this be reversed. In the new year. A change over in mindset’s. We need a culture focused on fitness. Physical activity. Maybe a start. A half hearted start but a start nevertheless. 

And may we nurture less pampered sons and nephews. That obsession with pampering the male child. And maybe the boys would be encouraged to use their brains more and to be empathetic. Less feudalistic. And less sensitive. Less sensitive to barbs about a sister or a daughter deciding about a life partner or about working. We are really very thick headed on this. We approach in some communities the equivalent of our skulls having the hardness of a teak tree on this. As I can make out our Samaj  (Society) seems to be full of idle people focused only upon the affairs in their neighbourhood. Maybe our Samaj will find better things to do rather than only pass on barbs. And gossip. 

Maybe chefs and cooks realise in 2026 that the use of coriander is simply to garnish. Not to cook it into the food and mix it into the curd and what not. It simply takes away the aroma of the actual produce. We really go crazy on using coriander. Just a thought ! 

Less anger. Less venting of perceived grievances. More working. Higher productivity. Have to work on this really. We must. 

What more could be wished for. Simpler marriages. Two days would surely do. Creativity need not spawn umpteen functions. We Punjabis are just adding a function onto another function. It’s getting too much.. And no torture. Torture as in watching sundry aunties, uncles, bhabhi’s, Mausis, Mamis, Bhaiyas, Chachas pretend they know how to dance and make a conscious decision to make a fool of themselves on stage. It’s funny at times. At times a torture. Just move on the actual dance floor. It’s comparatively anonymous. 

I was interviewing a young person, coaching cum mentoring, and realised reading newspapers was not his cup of tea. Slowly, with a few exceptions, most of them were clueless on developments even in their specialisation. Or field. One young lady said she had certainly read a newspaper, a week ago, when an actress inaugurated a showroom ! Could be they start reading newspapers again. Maybe. And lower the need to seek validation from sundry influencers. 

The list could go on. Less honking. More sane driving. Less feudalism and less arrogance. Less bribing and corruption  though this one is more a dream and not a wish. It cannot be !  Being well groomed. That is possible. 

Wars, politics, religion, development, they are far too complex. Wishes for such issues would get no where. But the simple less complex issues, these are doable. Certainly.