Lest it be construed as a claptrap and cliched I perforce prudently have shied away from the beginning with the cliched “It is that ....” But then Father Time stands at such an hour which behoves that as we stand on the threshold to bid au revoir to 2007 and avidly await to welcome 2008 it would be wise to recall what Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry IV said: “The better part of valour is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life.” This observation only construes that it is better to be cautious and act wisely than be hot-headed and pay the price for it in repentance.

Indeed, nothing can so succinctly sum up the stance than those that wish to usher in the New Year should strictly take if one do not wish to snuff out “our  lives (which) are like a candle in the wind,” as Carl Sandburg described life. Often, year after year, it has been sadly seen that being carried away by the spirit of the occasion and the madness of the moment people have paid a dear price with their precious lives. Yes it is easy to be snared by the surge of the festivity that surrounds one.

 One infectious word that is frenziedly being bandied about the last few days is Party. Party. Party. Be it at office, home, billboards or subject of the shoptalk the buzzword is party with a capital P.

It is understandable one needs to let one’s hair down and get away from the humdrum routine and soak in and savour the magical and mesmerising moments, celebrating in camaraderie and bonhomie.

 However, this not merit that one should forget one’s responsibility one’s own self as also to one’s nears and dears. Why while the keepers of law take every precaution and sound out every possible advisory to ensure that each and every one you party spiritedly but safely and sensibily, it is also necessary that each of us too has a duty to ensure that a joyous occasion does not turn into one of tragedy and sadness.

 Truly, as George Eliot said: What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? and as actress Katharine Hepburn would observe Without discipline, there’s no life at all.

True, one may ask, why does one earn and live, if not to enjoy life and have fun?

But, as Zeno wisely puts it “the goal of life is living in agreement with nature,” and in doing so and partying prudently such that the jolly spirit of welcoming New Year with all the attendant fun, fanfare and boisterousness mood, does not get the better of one’s heart and sanity. As Abraham Lincoln, wisely counselled “in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Yes folks make merry, have your fill of fun such that “Let us so live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry,” as Mark Twain said. Happy New Year!