Just Walking Around

Saying Goodbye to the Old Man …2016

A few weeks back a close circle of family and friends  had gathered at our residence , to discuss the preparation for welcoming the New Year by way of a get together and a party like every year. During the discussions venues were discussed , menu was talked about , whether DJ would be required and the other Nitti gritties . During the family talk my father –in law Nitin Desai shared an old anecdote of how they in their childhood used to celebrate New Year’s. As a ritual all the kids in their Parvati wadi where they lived would make an effigy of “the Old Man”. They would use old shirt and old pants , sew the hand and feet ends and then stuff this with old rags , straw , paper to fill out the effigy . The head would be made out to look like a old man with flowing white beard and a hat on top. This effigy would be carried across the neighborhood with accompanied chants and merry making by the group and finally close to mid night the Old Man would be burnt amidst loud cheers of “Happy New Year”  

While another year comes to a close , and some among us are drawing up New Year’s resolutions only to be given up by the 2^nd or 3^rd week of January. Before the New Year begins , a night of madness , fun and frolic has become the norm with city folks like us. In keeping with the tradition some in the city and areas under influence of the Christian community living in that area like Byculla, Mazgaon, Dhobi Talao, Bandra, Mahim Andheri and Borivili  , are gearing up to “burn the Old Man” on the night of December 31^st.Walk through these areas and you will find that cocky old chap in borrowed clothes, hoisted as if on a gibbet, with a bottle of hooch in hand and a cigar sewn into his mouth.

While the origin of this ritual is not known, it is sure that this tradition must have been passed on by our colonizers , the British . As per known facts on November 5 every year the British burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes , who was found guilty of conspiracy in 1605 to blow up the House of Lords. The Scottish have a similar New Year tradition in which they celebrate by making a bonfire and burning a straw figure “ the Auld Wife” . In their patriarchal world , the Old Wife symbolized the old year which was to be forgotten. . In another part of the world namely New Mexico , they celebrate the Fiestas de Santa Fe to celebrate the conquest of retaking the city in 1692 , an effigy known as “Zozobra” or Old Man Gloom is burnt.

Made of hay and clothed, the old man represents all the sorrows of the year gone by that are to be burned away before the new year begins. Commonly referred to as Mr. Old Man or Old Man Gloom, the effigy burning symbolizes the burning of all the gloom the previous year contained.

The tradition also allows people to write notes expressing their reasons for sorrow and place it around the man so that it burns along with him. Leaving no room for any negativity to be carried forward into the next year, the tradition is the perfect way to end the year and bring as much joy to the New Year as is possible..

 Many see the New Year as a new born baby, born on January 1, who turns old in a year’s time and goes away at the end of the year, carrying with him the burdens of the passing year. Another baby or year is born the next day, and so along with celebrations the truth of life is carried forward in this symbolic burning of the Old Man, the chain of death and birth, of passage of time, of old and new, of time and tide. The belief is that there is an old man in all of us who is worldly and so we burn the old man with his vices.

This typical tradition be it imbibed from the British or the Portuguese or which finds its replica in our very own Hindu tradition of burning the Ravana on Dussara , the culture of burning the Old Man has become part of our lives and is vibrant and visible in the small by-lanes of Mumbai.

While most people bring in the New Year with a party, this is one tradition you must take part in at least once in your life. With all the negativity left behind, it may just end up being the most amazing year you will ever have..

Wishing all my readers a Happy New Year…..