New year day

NEW YEAR DAY

                                        New Year's is one of the oldest celebrated holidays. It was first observed 4000 years ago in ancient Babylon, coinciding with the spring equinox (late March) and planting new crops. The celebration lasted for 11 days. During the festival, the king was stripped of his clothes and sent away so everyone could do what they wanted for a few days. At the end of the holiday, the king returned in a grand procession, dressed in fine robes and everyone went back to work.

                                                             New Year’s Day according to the Gregorian calendar (January 1) is one of the most popular occasions in India. Many people throughout India celebrate this festive occasion with loved ones or in large gatherings.

                                  People in all parts of India dress colorfully and indulge in fun filled activities such as singing, playing games, dancing, and attending parties. Night clubs, movie theatres, resorts, restaurants and amusement parks are filled with people of all ages.

People greet and wish each other Happy New Year. Exchanging messages, greeting cards and gifts are part and parcel of the New Year celebration. The media covers many New Year events which are showcased on prime channels for most of the day. People who decide to stay indoors resort to these New Year shows for entertainment and fun. The age-old tradition of planning new resolutions for the coming year is a common sight. A few of the most popular resolutions include losing weight, developing good habits, and working hard.

                                                            Larger cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai organize live concerts which are attended by Bollywood stars and other well-known personalities. Large crowds gather to attend such shows, while some individuals prefer to celebrate with their close friends and family members. The fun filled occasion is considered a great opportunity to get closer to the loved ones in your life and to revive contact with lost friends. The idea is to wave goodbye to the year gone-by and welcome the New Year in the hope that it will invite truckloads of happiness and joy in everyone’s life.

                                                                  New Year’s Day on January 1 in the Gregorian calendar is a restricted holiday in India. Individuals can take a limited number of restricted holidays but government offices and most businesses remain open and public transport remains available. Most people are known to report late to work on January 1 due to late night celebrations.

                                                        The security is tightened in prime cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore as incidents of molestation and fights have been rising the last few years. The arrival of foreign tourists is at its peak during New Year’s Day on January 1, especially in locations such as Goa which is known to be a favorite tourist destination.

                                                         The New Year signifies that the time has arrived to bid farewell to the by-gone year and to welcome the New Year. Traditionally, the New Year was celebrated on the first of March every year. However, this date was switched to January 1 as it is considered to have a more religious significance. With the growth of the western culture across the globe, New Year’s Day on January 1 in the Gregorian calendar has been one of India’s many celebrations. There are different opinions as to when New Year’s Day that falls on January 1 in the Gregorian calendar was first celebrated in India. Some say that it was observed when the British colonized India while others say that its popularity bloomed only after the 1940s.

                                     It is important to note that different calendars are used among different groups in India so the New Year is celebrated at different times, based when it is marked in these calendars. This article is about New Year’s Day in the Gregorian calendar, which is celebrated worldwide and falls on January 1. Other New Year’s dates include.

                                     Individuals can take a limited number of restricted holidays but government offices and most businesses remain open. This system gives individuals the flexibility to take time off to celebrate a holiday within India's vast religious and cultural society.

                                                   New Year's is one of the oldest celebrated holidays. It was first observed 4000 years ago in ancient Babylon, coinciding with the spring equinox (late March) and planting new crops. The celebration lasted for 11 days. During the festival, the king was stripped of his clothes and sent away so everyone could do what they wanted for a few days. At the end of the holiday, the king returned in a grand procession, dressed in fine robes and everyone went back to work.

                                                    Romans also celebrated New Year's during March. It was Julius Caesar who changed the Roman New Year's Day to January 1.

                                                  Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.

                                                         Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment. The resolutions today are simply a secular version of the religious vows made in the past toward spiritual perfection. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. They are often made with good intentions and broken with a sense of humor and renewed annually.

                        Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes the end of the one year with the seamless beginning of the next, completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune. Many parts of the country celebrate the New Year by consuming black-eyed peas. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many.

                                                       Although many countries celebrate New Year's on the same day, each country has different traditions. In Southeast Asia they release birds and turtles for good luck in the coming year. In Japan, people hang a rope of straw in front of their houses signifying happiness and good luck. They believe it keeps the evil spirits away. Japanese people begin to laugh the moment the New Year begins, so they will have good luck the whole year. In British Columbia, Canada, there is a traditional polar bear swim, where people put on their bathing suits and and plunge into the icy cold water. 

                                  In the United States, the legal holiday is January 1, but Americans begin celebrating on December 31. Sometimes people have masquerade balls, where guests dress up in costumes and cover their faces with masks. According to an old tradition, guests unmask at midnight. At New Year's Eve parties across the United States on December 31, many guests watch television as part of the festivities. Most of the television channels show Times Square in the heart of New York City. At one minute before midnight, a lighted ball drops slowly from the top to the bottom of a pole on one of the buildings. People count down at the same time as the ball drops. When it reaches the bottom, the new year sign is lighted. People hug and kiss, and wish each other "Happy New Year!"