The first day of the new year is a time for optimism. Time to practice getting the date right. Remarking on how 2004 is upon us before one even adjusted to 2003. Making the same trite observations about how time flies, etc, etc. It seems odd when one thinks about it, the ceremonies we create. The artificial divides of time and space. What was so different about yesterday? And yet, at the stroke of midnight, a year passed by. And we are called upon this morning, by custom and habit, to ponder over the future with a tad greater concern and anticipation than we are likely to do as the days pass by. The problem — and it is a problem only if we term it as such — is that we have grown accustomed to not one but many such markers. Our days do not stretch lazily and uneventfully as they did before but are filled instead with many moments of apparent significance. Take festivals for instance: Valentine’s Day, Id, Holi, Diwali, Halloween, Raksha Bandhan, Ganesh Chaturthi, Pateti, Pongal, Navratri, Christmas — we celebrate each and every one with gusto these days. Weddings have become elaborate affairs with choreographed dancing, lavish sets and multiple cuisines. Children in cities go to more birthday parties than there are days in the month. There is no longer one major tournament or beauty contest, there are scores. There is no one awards night, there could be one almost every night. A film does not have the rare silver jubilee party but several starting with the muhurat, the music release, the premiere and so on. Products are not just launched quietly in the market but loudly with the popping of champagne. Malls, lounges, shops celebrate at the drop of a hat. Some don’t even wait for a year, but like nubile lovers throw a party to show off the six months they have survived. And if we do not have the wherewithal or access to this hectic social whirl, we can find vicarious enjoyment in the celebrations of the well known. Were we not privy to every detail about Karisma Kapoor’s wedding? Did we not gasp, exclaim and rejoice at the food, the guests, the clothes, the decorations? And have we not cut a cake and grown a year with celebrities such as M.F. Husain, Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar? And do we not every day have our attention called to: New offers! Bonanzas! Fabulous discounts! We have become a people breathless with excitement. And so perhaps the beginning of the year is the time to look at the larger picture, the slow but inexorable changes taking place beneath the frantic everyday rush of events. And if one had to pick three social trends to be watching out for in the near future what would they be? I’d probably put my money on the following. Space travel certainly. It won’t happen for a while. It won’t be affordable for a long, long time but imagine the competitive rush when the first leisure flight takes off? At the same time we will possibly be witnessing the full effects of our own shrinking planet earth. The Internet is old hat. But after a stumbling start, it appears to be finally coming into its own as a challenge to the established order. Last year one witnessed the power of both the Net and the SMS to serve as means of mobilising crowds and registering protest. A special issue of Newsweek on Issues 2004 reports that the Internet has now decisively and conclusively sounded the death knell of the music business the way it was. The strategies and law suits employed by companies to stave off the challenge posed by Napster and others do not seem to have worked. The new power of the consumer in a creative medium should be an interesting development to watch. Lastly, a couple of pointers from Mumbai. Last week someone had the bright idea of hosting a scam party in the city. Invitations arrived ominously with fake cops in tow, and at the party men dressed as wardens served drinks and a skimpily dressed dancer gyrated to strains of chapa lagaa! Days before, Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister, Chhagan Bhujbal, had resigned purportedly because his men had attacked a television channel for airing a political spoof on the unfolding situation. Political theme parties, spoofs. are we witnessing the beginning of a sense of humour? Outlook reports that more than half the nation’s population is now less than 25 years old. Will it be an angry youth? Or will it be one that has learnt finally to laugh at itself?
