On the day 2019 dawned, hopes soared, lakes froze and millions yearned to breathe free. In Kashmir, the temperature dropped to minus 7 degrees Celsius, after nearly three decades, and the surface of Srinagar’s Dal Lake became a sheet of ice. The Met Department issued cold wave warnings for several States, sweeping as far south as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In the national capital, the morning of the New Year was shrouded in smog, with the bleak winter sun unable to cut through the blanket of pollution from smoke and vehicular emissions. Delhi’s citizens were told by the weathermen that they would have to put up with the chokehold of pollutants, and that there was no relief in sight soon. The air was less daunting in Mumbai, though. The bustling city was allowed to party through the night, and bars and pubs were permitted by the State government to remain open till 5 a.m.
A different kind of celebration was about to begin on the first day of the year in Bhima Koregaon, where Dalits gathered in freezing temperatures near the Victory Pillar for the annual commemoration of the battle between the British forces and the Peshwa ruler. Down south, a latter-day movement was launched in Chennai on January 1, as the city put its best foot forward. The Tamil Nadu government took the bold green step of letting go of single-use plastic, and prohibited its use in the State; the move was celebrated with balloons that carried a “Happy New Year” message and made the point about alternatives such as cloth bags quite literally. Young and old Indians alike welcomed the arrival of 2019 in so many colourful ways, waiting for first light to shine on a brighter year ahead.
(Text by G. Ananthakrishnan)
White dawn: Snow in the New Year thaws Kashmir’s feeling of hopelessness, raising spirits in the Valley where the year gone by offered resno let-up in bloodshed and political uncertainties.
Quiet flows the Ganga: The river in Patna flows for a seeming eternity as time does, in whose scale a New Year is just a blip.
After-party languor: Revellers wrap up celebrations with a game of chess at the Gateway of India in Mumbai.
War and peace: Braving the cold, lakhs of Dalits throng a war memorial site at Bhima-Koregaon to pay homage to those who died in the war between the British and the Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy on its 201st anniversary.
Buoyant Chennai: The southern metropolis is on a mission in 2019, with balloons afloat spreading the message of the ban on single-use plastic that came into force in the New Year in the city.
Village vibes: Sun rises over Punchakkari near the Vellayani freshwater lake in Thiruvananthapuram to chirps and warbles of migratory birds.
Diffuse light: Walkers brave the cold around the Kempe Gowda Tower at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Bengaluru.