January 1 is more than just A New Year for these Chennaiites

Sudarshan Balaji, a fashion photographer, says he will be throwing a house party for some of his closest friends. “I’m not a huge fan of stepping out on December 31 night,” he says. A quirk that makes every birthday of his unique is that he never gets calls at midnight. He says, “Usually, people call each other at midnight to exchange wishes for the new year or birthdays. But because the networks get jammed, no one’s ever been able to call and wish me at 12!”

A few years ago, his parents wanted to get in touch with him but they didn’t know the network would be an issue. “They thought something had happened to me because the call wasn’t connecting. I had to come back in the morning and assure them that everything was okay. So, these years, I try to step out of home after 12 so that they don’t worry,” says the caring son, who seems to be growing older and wiser. “One thing I’m consciously trying to do from this year onwards is to spend wisely and plan my investments better. I have lost interest in spending lavishly, I’ll probably buy a T-shirt this time. I’m basically growing up,” he laughs.

On the other hand, Mahesh Kumar R, an employee of Cognizant, prefers spending his birthday with his family. “My father works as a priest in a temple so every year, we take up the 41-day vratham to go to Sabarimala around my birthday. This has been a tradition for the past 17 years or so. On January 1, my college friends come home before midnight and we sit up chatting till the wee hours of the morning. After waking up, my family and I head to the temple and come back home to a nice, hot meal that invariably consists of vegetarian food, vadai, payasam and some other sweets,” he shares. But doesn’t he feel the fear of missing out on parties? “I don’t really feel bad that I can’t drink or go to a club on my birthday; I’m just happy I can spend it with the people I love,” says the youngster.

Ringing in the new year and their first wedding anniversary on January 1 are Ishak Ahmed and his wife Salma. When asked if they intentionally got married on this date, he says, “We initially wanted to get married on February 14. Since it didn’t fall on a Sunday, we thought of shifting it. Also, my birthday is on Christmas and I wanted to celebrate my wedding anniversary on a special, memorable date too. So new year seemed ideal.”

The couple recently became proud parents to a boy, Rayan Ahmed, and have a lot to look forward to in 2019. “He was born on Muharram which Muslims consider the new year. My aunt keeps joking that my family stole all the important, auspicious dates,” he smiles. And how are they planning to celebrate on Tuesday? “My wife told me of three wishes she had in mind before we got married. We fulfilled two of them so I’m thinking I’ll surprise her by making the last one come true,” concludes Ishak.