KARACHI: Everyone has the right to celebrate the occasion that makes one happy the way one wants to. However, individual happiness differs largely from collective acts of enjoyment. The former is to do with a confined physical and psychological space; the latter has a direct bearing on society (for example, musical concerts are held with a specific target audience in mind and to keep economic challenges in check).

Each year, what happens on New Year’s Eve in Karachi is known to all and sundry. The roads leading to Clifton beach are tightly guarded and barricaded to control the rowdies who, minutes before arrival of New Year, unleash celebratory hullabaloo that often descents into violent disorderliness. Perhaps that does not concern a vast majority of citizens. What happens at the stroke of midnight in almost all parts of Karachi can wake up the heaviest sleeper in the world. The reference here is to the unbridled aerial firing that takes place as soon as the clock strikes 12. It suffuses the air with gunpowder and invariably, and inadvertently, injures or kills people. Last year, this newspaper reported that 37 persons, including two toddlers, received injuries on New Year’s Eve.

This year, one thought, the exercise might not be repeated. The reason was: a lot has happened locally as well as on a global scale to merit sobriety and reflection. For example, when this writer asked a friend on Sunday morning (Dec 31) whether there would be any events organised to celebrate the occasion, he answered that this time around the activities might be subdued, if not nonexistent, because of what’s happening in Gaza. [In the last quarter of 2023, social media was abuzz with the news coming out of the Middle East and netizens expressed their sympathies with the Palestinian people.] That did not turn out to be the case. Once the gunshots began, it seemed they wouldn’t stop for at least a couple of hours.

One can understand that as a nation we seldom have moments of mirth to bask in. So when there’s time for it, we should celebrate by all means, make no mistake. But using aerial firing as a form of rejoicing goes to show how violence and hunger for power have crept into our daily lives. Without an iota of doubt, it is not a healthy sign.

In life, to begin a new chapter, to enter a new phase, is just as important as to end a journey. It signifies our priorities. Irish poet and author John O’Donohue in his book A Book of Blessings writes: “A beginning is ultimately an invitation to open toward the gifts and growth that are stored up for us. To refuse to begin can be an act of great self-neglect. Our very life depends on continuous acts of beginning.”

We must not refuse to begin. We must not negate ourselves. We are a vibrant nation that can find better ways to have a good time.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2024