Barak residents set to begin New Year on positive note

Special correspondent

SILCHAR, Dec 31: Ring out the old, ring in the new/Ring, happy bells, across the snow/The year is going, let him go/Ring out the false, ring in the true.

These lines from Tennyson’s ‘In Memoriam’ quite appropriately, of course, with a little variation, bring out the essence of a year that is going out and the coming of a new year.

As people across the world bid adieu to 2015 and become ready to welcome 2016, many thoughts impinge in their minds. The year gone by has been most turbulent with disturbing events and virtually stirring the world. Quite turally, one would like to forget all that was and look forward towards the dawn of an era of peace and prosperity.

  The poem, according to a free translation, is recited annually at the tiol New Year’s Eve celebration in Sweden. The Swedish tradition of reading ‘ring out the old…’ began in 1897. It should be clearly noted that the Swedish translation varies from the English origil. But, a literal translation of the poem strikes the note of ringing in the New Year and bidding farewell to the year gone by. This has also been echoed in what the following academics and jourlists have to say.

  Dr. Rama Prasad Biswas, associate professor of English, Assam University, would like to forget all the grisly images that made 2015 most violent. It was a year which witnessed loss of human life on an unprecedented level. The worst Syrian refugee crisis and the barbaric terrorist strikes in Paris were the events that would make the year gone by as most shaking. Any sensible person, he hoped and believed, would pray that these were no more repeated and the world would be free from violence.

  Samar Roy Choudhury, resident editor, Eastern Chronicle, could not but be pensive to think of how amidst threats and fears, the world witnessed the emergence of ISIS that “poses a challenge to human civilization, causing large scale destruction of life and property. Ruthless killing of school children in Lahore Army School by terrorists, Charlie Hebodo and Concert Hall killings in Paris, murder of secular bloggers and ratiolists in Bangladesh and ratiolists in India, occurrences like Dadri, frequent incidents of oppression and atrocities against women and other such unfortute and unsavoury events that took place in 2015 be not occurred again.” Let 2016 be a year of hopes and inspiration where people shall live in a terror free environment, focusing on development of quality of life across the world.

  Prof. Dipankar Kar, head, department of English, Gurucharan College, thinks the year 2015 has been one of great stress, strain and disharmony as well as disorder in socio-political life in general. But, talking about India, the country has witnessed and unprecedented resurgence in politics with the emergence of rendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. He wished, “Let us hope that the incoming year 2016 will be an era of joy, jubilation, peace, harmony, prosperity and progress.”

  Satrajit Paul Choudhury, jourlist, while taking a view of the whole world in the perspective of 2015 said it would be better to sink into oblivion the most hateful, obnoxious and uncivilized barbarism that rocked the humanity. It is no use making a catalogue of the worst that happened. He would however pin his attention on how the Parliament could not function and he would like to blame for it the unparliamentary behaviour of politicians in focus. He hoped the politicians would realize their mistakes and refrain from repeating. Let 2016 be free from violence around the globe and most importantly the Swatch Bharat Abhiyan becomes successful.