Spirit of the New Year should go on

NEW YEAR: Every year the Sinhala and Tamil New Year triggers one of the country’s largest mass movements as people from all over the country join with their families to celebrate the most joyous holiday of all.

It was no exception this year, too. Train and bus stations, and roads were jammed and businesses had closed down late last week as people took time off to feast and celebrate.

The start of the New Year holiday has always been a quiet time centering on family gatherings at home. Elders are remembered with a setting of their own at the table and elsewhere, symbolising togetherness of the generations.

All activities on New Year’s Day such as lighting the hearth, partaking of the first meal, exchanging of gifts and money transactions and commencing work are carried out at different times considered to be auspicious in relation to the movement of the sun.

The commercialisation and changing lifestyles are now having a major impact on how New Year is celebrated in Sri Lanka. Getting all the family together is no longer a simple matter.

Often people do not get off work until New Year’s Eve itself and then have to battle traffic back to their home towns. Stressed-out urbanites sometimes decide they are not up to a heavy round of visiting and celebrating, and instead go away for a relaxing vacation.

Affluence in the cities is another reason for the heavy outbound holiday traffic. On the other hand, as more people than ever are living abroad, a family group spread out around the globe may get together at a mutually convenient holiday resort.

Or, given the difficulty of getting everybody together, sometimes just the immediate family may decide to get away from all the hassle and take a vacation break by themselves.

For others, the pressures of business mean there are not many other opportunities to take time off.

As Nimal, owner of a small printing firm, comments, “For people like myself, often the only time it’s possible to close down the business and get away is New Year, when everything closes.”

At the same time, the hectic pace of modern living have taken a toll on many time-honoured New Year traditions that had their beginnings in a slower-paced agricultural society.

Wearing new clothes during the New Year holiday, a tradition from ancient times to begin the year with a fresh start, while still a practice, is no longer a novelty.

The preparation of traditional food, such as Kavum, kokis, has become simpler, and foods that once were longed-for, once-a-year holiday treats, are now readily available all year round in supermarkets, a boon for busy families even as their uniqueness fades.

Are changing times eroding the traditions and family togetherness of this special time of year? Most people believe it is not. Traditions still remain strongest in villages and small towns, a big reason why so many people still look forward to joining their families there.

A busy public administrator, Gerald is quite emphatic: “My family always looks forward to going back to the village for New Year. It’s a chance for us to enjoy the peace and quiet, as well as to visit the rest of the family for an old-fashioned celebration.”

Businessman, Lasantha recalls that New Year activities in his family have become simpler over the years as the children have grown up and most of them out of the country. Kavum, Kiribath, firecrackers, visiting relatives, and staying up all night of his childhood have partially given way to new activities like visiting scenic or historic spots and traveling abroad.

Does he think the holiday is losing significance? “Definitely not! The New Year is something rooted in our people’s minds,” he says. “It still is the number one holiday of the year.”

Although Malinga presently living in USA relishes memories of New Year celebrations with her family while growing up in Matara, spending the holiday far away from them during her five years of studying abroad was not a problem.

“With my parents telephoning me every week, I felt I had what I needed — their love and care.”

Reflecting on the evolution of New Year customs, she says that the biggest challenge today is to carry the holiday spirit over into everyday living all year long, regardless of changing traditions. Just a few days of mutual celebration are not really enough to bind the family together.

Nimal, Lasantha and Malinga - all of them acknowledge the same fact. The spirit of New Year is definitely alive and going well in Sri Lanka.

While the attachment to old holiday practices may be loosening, the shared memory of a common past going back over the centuries, together with bright hopes for the future, firmly remains.