As the city wakes up to a new decade, DC looks back on the last day of 2019, and the spirit of the merrymaking. As this newspaper gets talking to people from all walks of life, it is clear that there has been a shift from the typical champagne-popping, ‘all-night-on-the-dance-floor with pulsating music’mood that characterised the seeing off of previous years.
People are now increasingly preferring to make the evening a personal and quite celebration.
For expert food curator Rachna Kumar, the night of Decembers 31st was ‘divine’ in the truest sense of the term. Rachna made time for peace amidst all the fun with friends at the Madras club. “We started the night at 8:30 at a friend’s place, and from there we went to the Madras Club where we spent the maximum time. In between, we went to the Sai Baba temple - the chants, the aarti and the annadanam at midnight were so fulfilling and it was exactly how I dreamt it should be. Later, we went back to the Club and wished everyone,” smiles Rachna.
Renowned actress and politician Khushbu describes herself as a ‘homely person’. Talking to DC, Khushbu says, "This year, I spent my time with friends and family at a friend's (Sujatha Vijayakumar) place in Hyderabad. The kids were around, we were playing billiards, we spent quality time with each other. We rang in the New Year with cake-cutting. It was more of talk and laughter than just dance and music.”
Author Nanditha Krishna welcomed the new decade in alignment with her passion and profession. "I just read a book. I used to party when I was much younger. For me, entertainment is just sitting with a few friends and talking."
Suresh Kumar, a doctor, says ‘It's not that I don't party. It's just that, this time I wanted to do something different. Maybe my age is also a factor. I am in my 30s and now I have a different set of friends. This 31st I watched the movie Godfather with my family.”
For actress Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, generally, the year-end is always a celebration as it's her birthday on the 29th. But this time, "it was the most special New Year celebrations for us because of the arrival of our grandchild who is four months old now. Our kids were here. We had the cradle ceremony for our grandchild Ved Ganesh Ramakrishnan. We have not been partying for the last 10 years. We either go to a temple or go to a church. At the dinner table we discussed our milestones over the last 10 years and our roadmap for the next five years."
An advocate by profession and the district chairman of the global leadership team of the Lion's Club international, M Shreedhar organized a family night at the Radisson Blue. Referring to the idea of low-key celebrations clicking with people, Shreedhar says, "There was a celebration with 100 families where we had a DJ, a cocktail party etc. It was more of a family-oriented celebration than regular clubbing. Most of the people were in formal clothes. No one got high. There were games and competitions and awards were given to the married couples who won these events.”
Meanwhile, the Chennai police did a phenomenal job in handling the traffic.
