By IANS
New Delhi : Symbolising a country standing at the crossroads of modernity and tradition, Indians powered by new money rang in the New Year at boisterous parties in clubs and farmhouses, and yet on the morrow of 2008 prayed at temples and churches for a good year ahead.
But New Year began on a traumatic note for some – four young revellers were killed in Mumbai and one in Chennai.
In the national capital, the New Year’s Eve was a round of farmhouse bashes, galas at five-star hotels, intimate family gatherings as residents partied every which way to usher in 2008, the coldest in five years at 2.6 degrees Celsius.
In Mumbai, four young people returning home from a New Year’s party were killed and two injured early Tuesday when the car they were travelling in hit a stationary earth-moving truck in south Mumbai. The truck cleaner was also killed, the traffic police said.
In Chennai, the day started on a tragic note in the metropolis when a makeshift dance stage erected over a swimming pool at the Savera city hotel collapsed, killing a young reveller and leaving three others seriously injured.
The dead was identified as 24-year-old Sumeeth Agnihotri, an engineer from Lucknow, employed in a Chennai software firm.
On Tuesday, people in Churu, Rajasthan, woke up to a bitterly cold New Year at minus 1.1 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted colder days ahead for north India.
“We had a tough time while returning from a party late last night. My hands were almost numbing due to extreme cold conditions,” said Rohit Srivastava, an executive working in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi.
But, it was not a cold wash at the Indian stock markets. The New Year saw the stock markets starting on an optimistic note, with a key index opening with a gain of 38 points Tuesday, as the first trading session of 2008 began.
The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened 38 points up at 20,287 points.
The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty Index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened 11 points up at 6,150 points, against the previous close of 6,
While the affluent spent the New Year eve enjoying the midnight revelry in hotels, clubs and homes or watching TV from under their warm quilts, for over 140,000 pavement dwellers in the Indian capital, it was just another day of destitution and struggle for survival.
“I wish, me and my four kids get two meals a day in the new year,” said Noor Jehan, as she tried her best to cover her children – two boys and two girls – with a pair of gunnysacks and a torn blanket.
“For me, the New Year is another day of survival and sleeping on the roadside. Allah ko pata hai kal kya hone wala hai (Only Allah knows what’s in store for me tomorrow),” said the 40-year-old woman who sleeps on a pavement near the Delhi Gate monument that intersects the New and Old Delhi.
In Andhra Pradesh, thousands thronged temples to pray for their happiness in the New Year. The biggest congregation was seen at Lord Venkateshwara temple, India’s most famous and richest Hindu temple on Tirumala hills near Tirupati.
People stood in serpentine queues for hours to get their turn to worship. More than 100,000 people offered prayers at the temple, praying for prosperity and success in the New Year. It is believed that all wishes made by devotees at the temple get fulfilled.
For the police in Mumbai, New Delhi and other metros, the New Year’s Eve meant being on toes and extra vigilant as they kept an eye on party poopers and drunken revellers – and rowdies and terrorists.
The Mumbai police arrested as many as 338 revellers for drunken driving.
In Delhi, at least 85 people were arrested for drunken driving on the city’s roads on New Year Eve. Besides, 189 people were prosecuted for violating traffic laws, the police said Tuesday.
Like every year, people in Kerala welcomed the New Year in typical style by bursting crackers, offering prayers and partying. The New Year Eve bash at Kovalam beach was the grandest – as always.
While devout Christians attended midnight mass at churches, others went partying at hotels and pubs.
The revelry in the three major cities – Kochi, Kozhikode and the state capital here – went on late into the night.
The famed Kovalam beach witnessed the maximum revelry. All the resorts located there did very good business.
“We had 30 percent more crowd than last year at our resort,” said Sudhish Kumar, who owns a plush seaside resort on Kovalam beach.
“Kovalam beach was overflowing with people at around 3 a.m.,” he said.
In Kolkata, Alipore Zoological Gardens, Victoria Memorial and St Paul’s Cathedral were visited by around three million people during the day.
Honking cars, rowdy revellers, harried policemen and overflowing discothèques marked the ways of the evening.
If DJs and reality show winners were hot on demand this new year, dancers from Russia, Ukraine, Hawaii and Romania were the star attraction in the different hotels. There were also sizable crowds at the bookstores – Oxford, Landmark and Crossword – that had arranged for special game sessions for children.
In Hyderabad, youths danced in gay abandon as the clock struck midnight, marking the beginning of 2008 in style.
Unmindful of the chill and heavy police presence in view of the bomb blasts few months ago, the youth on motorbikes zipped around through the night.
Wild celebrations broke out around Hussain Sagar, the lake which divides the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The revellers went wild at busy intersections, gyrating to pulsating music blaring through the cars.
In Bangalore, hundreds of revellers on M.G. Road, Brigade Road and Church Street in the central business district ushered in 2008 by bursting firecrackers and loudly cheering “Happy New Year”.
With most of them in “high spirits” after downing a few pegs, the revellers hugged friends and strangers alike and danced on the three roads, a favourite place of Bangaloreans to bid goodbye to the outgoing year.
Hundreds of youngsters chose to welcome the New Year with parties in resorts on the outskirts of the city. Special prayers were offered in churches and poojas performed in temples across the state.