As the holiday spirit gets to even the hardened workaholic, it has had no effect on the top politicians across party lines. With one or two exceptions, they prepare to welcome the New Year by working through the year-end.
Leading the list of somber leaders is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who for the second year running has not taken a single day off (except for his prostrate operation). That should have made him popular, but ask the hapless officials at the Prime Minister's Office who have to match his diligent ways.
"The prime minister will not be taking any holiday, just like last year," said a PMO official, not too cheerfully.
His party president Sonia Gandhi, who had stayed at Shimla's Wildflower Hall last year, is quietly ushering in the New Year in Delhi.
Delhi's hide and seek weather has got to Sonia and the new year spirit for her has been dampened by not just the electoral failures in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh but also a bad case of the flu.
"Even during the stock taking meeting over Gujarat, she could barely speak, so she's pretty much keeping to home," said a little bird at 10 Janpath.
Left leader Prakash Karat and his wife Brinda are also at home over the New Year eve. Karat had recently toured Vietnam and has no plans to travel any time soon.
The only exception seems to be leader of the Opposition, L K Advani. He has much to celebrate and will be visiting Rishikesh with his wife, children and daughter-in-law between December 31 and January 2, after attending the swearing-in ceremony of P K Dhumal as the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister on December 30.
A teetotaler, Advani will be welcoming the New Year with nothing more potent than a glass of saffron and milk. Political watchers say that the year-end revelry has never worked well in India as for the last few years there have been events that have cast a pall over proceedings.
If there was the IC 814 hijacking in December 1999, there was the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001. The tsunami hit India on December 26, 2004 while the Nithari murders came to light at the same time last year. This year, too, the death of Benazir Bhutto has dampened spirits here. Still, it has been a long time since former Prime Minister Vajpayee penned Kumarakom musings. Maybe it is time for an encore.
