The final lap of the year

BENGALURU: In a week’s time, we will all have entered the final lap of 2019. I have noticed that no matter how a particular year treats you in the first nine months, the last three months ensure a little redemption.The months of October to December are wild and colourful. The nation suddenly lights up with festivals and holidays. The annoying rains have ended and jackets and sweaters are brought out. The sun that was a harsh taskmaster all through the year becomes a warm, benevolent friend.

But the most important difference in the last three months is internal. This is the phase when we are all easier towards ourselves. The resolutions set for ourselves in the beginning of the year have either been achieved or softened with time. The focus is strictly on making the most of what is left. Holiday plans are conjured up with renewed hope and enthusiasm. Like Virat Kohli converting ones into twos, we begin converting long weekends into vacation plans. Goa fulfils its national obligation by featuring in everybody’s travel plans at least once.

Bright, shiny festivals sit on their annual merry-go-round. If the first nine months of the year brought in 11 national holidays, the final three pack in a whopping six! Add a few additional days for Navratri and the last two days of the year – and you have a sizable chunk of holidays to work around.

As Spider-Man would have said, ‘With great festivals come great food’. The final three months of the year are great for foodies and non-foodies alike. There is just more food available everywhere. October to December is when most Indian weddings take place, and man being a gregarious animal, diets politely give way to buffet spreads. Your workplace – which seems to be on a permanent austerity drive – suddenly gives you sweet-boxes. And if you have noticed, it is impossible to give or accept a sweet-box without a smile.

The largest movies release in this phase of the year. Dussehra releases and Christmas releases from your friendly neighbourhood superstars pop up all around you. If you’re a devotee of Lord Shiva, these are the months when the Lord gives his most bountiful herbs. There is also a lot of drinking to be done in this phase of the year. Alcohol is often the first to be dismissed while framing resolutions at the start of the year. However, with the passage of time, one begins to appreciate the outstanding quality of alcohol to blur over our imperfections. There are office parties, bachelor/bachelorette parties, house parties and New Year parties to attend.

And just like that, we all walk cheerily into the final phase of the year. By the end of December, one is so full of food and drink and festivities – that one decides to do something about the debauchery. Those rigid annual resolutions are dusted and brought out from the attics of our conscience. ‘I shall exercise, save money, and pick up an interesting hobby. I shall be an overall better human being come next January’, we convince ourselves. 

And that is how the circle of life goes on and on. If the entire year is a race, we are now in the final lap. You can take off those training shoes, Dear Reader, and slip into comfortable chappals!

The author is a writer and comedian