New Year's Universal Language

Though time is endless and no one knows when it started, man has attempted to measure it like any other item or commodity known to him. The nearest and best method available to him for measuring time was movement of the planets or their satellites. The time taken by the earth to make a full round of the Sun was accepted as the measure for time and called a year. Then the measure of day was already there as the time between two sunrises. Things fell in place with these two measuring units; it gave meaning to seasons and many happenings on the earth that had close connections with the happenings in human life span. 

Once the revolution of Earth around the Sun was accepted as a year, naturally each completion of revolutions started a new one. Man always wants to find some reason to celebrate. What can be a bigger reason for celebrating than the beginning of a new year? So each new revolution heralded a new year. 

The funniest thing is that what can be starting point for a new revolution of the earth around the Sun when the process continues day after day without any interruption? This resulted in the rise of many interpretations for the beginning of the new year. Accordingly we have new year calculations around the year! Hence new year day is celebrated on different days throughout the year around the world. However, modren man has accepted the concept of the twelve months cycle from January to December more widely than others. This gives rise to celebration of January 1st as the "New Year Day" throughout the world, though there is no bar in different parts of the world having their own new year day as well. 

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Though January 1st is now widely accepted as the new year day, it is ushered in at different times of the day around the world, since there are different time zones around the globe. Thus the new year arrives in East Asia and Australia earlier than Europe or Americas. There are many types of celebrations heralding the new year in the middle of the night as the clock ticks. The celebrations continue throughout the day in different parts of the world. 

In the United States of America, the major celebrations of ushering the new year happen in the east coast as well as the west coast. The huge gatherings waiting in biting cold at the Times Square in New York in the midnight as per EST time and look for the famous ball to fall. It is a stupendous task for the law enforcement agencies to manage the show peacefully. It is even a bigger task for the cleaning agencies to clear the debris after the crowds celebrate and melt away.

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On the west coast of USA, new year arrives three hours later. But the biggest celebration here happens in the form of a parade in Los Angeles. It actually takes place in the City of Pasadena, about 11 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It takes place at 8 AM PST (Pacific Time) which is 11 AM in the east coast cities like New York, Washington DC etc. This time is convenient for viewers allover the USA and countries in the American continents, to watch the parade live on TV. 

The parade is held on the 1st of January at 8 AM PST, and moves along the 5 1/2 mile long Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard. If 1st January happens to be a Sunday, it is moved to the next day. Marching Bands, Vintage Cars, boat and airplane formations, horse riders, and various other Tableaux form the core of the parade. The parade goes on for 3 hours and ends at about 11 AM, local time. Seats for sitting and viewing the parade are available for purchase at a cost of 25 USD to 250 USD but are sold out  much in advance. Most of the locals stand along the two sides of the road to watch the parade and cheer the participants. 

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The event is officially named as the "Tournament of Roses Parade" as one of the main items used for preparing and decorating the participating objects and tableaux is rose flowers. However, many other flowers and vegetables are also used. The event is managed by Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association. This years event was sponsored by Honda Motors. 

Leading the Rose parade is considered a great honour. The leader is called Grand Marshal of the parade. This year's parade marshal was six times Tony Award winner singer and actress Audra McDonald.  The participating floats come from various organisations like NGOs, corporates, voluntary groups as well as from other countries as well. The floats participating are judged by a team of distinguished judges and awards given away after conclusion of the event. This year's award was won by the San Diego Zoo float, photo of which is given above. Today was the 135th parade and an estimated 800,000 people watched it live at the venue.

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The parade lasts for three hours, but the actual work takes weeks starting from conceptualisation, working out the details, preparing the structure and final decoration with flowers on the previous day. Volunteers enthusiastically take part in preparing the floats and spend several hours in the process. Watching the parade is indeed a sight to behold. It is a cultural extravaganza as well as a time for celebrations and looking at the new year with fond hopes.

This year's theme was "Celebrating a World of Music - The universal Language". Let us hope that the universal appeal of music will bring joy and relief to a world torn between multiple strifes. 

Happy New Year 2024.