New Year resolutions are so common that the two phrases go hand in hand. I have never heard of a non–New Year resolution so far. And so I have always wondered, why do people make resolutions at New Year time? And why do they have to wait for a New Year to make resolutions? It would be an interesting research to find out how many resolutions are indeed upheld all year and how many people again make the same resolution that they made the previous year. In my experience, there are very few people I know who have shown a steely determination to make a resolution and then keep it all year. But making resolutions at the New Year is a ritual as holy as praying to God before annual exams.

“Happy New Year”, chirped a colleague as I walked into the office on the first working day of 2011. And before I could return the compliment, she fired the expected salvo. “What’s your resolution this year?” And before I could even shake my head, she shrilled, “I actually have made two. You want to know what they are?” Without recognizing the blank look on my face – forget the expression of indifference which was so boldly plastered on my face – she went on, “I will reduce the number of movies I watch in a month to 2; and I want to gain 3 kg in weight”. Gain weight?! A lady talking of putting on some pounds of flesh! With that master-stroke, she got my full attention now. “I know you must be thinking this is weird, but my boyfriend says I look shrunken and under the weather. He says he feels a little embarrassed when we go somewhere together because of my slight structure, for he is a hefty fellow and his friends tease him as we look a little out of match”. Huh, so is it not more sensible that Mr. Stocky resolves to cut his weight, I wondered. “He is very proud of his appearance and will not do so, so it is better that I try to match up a little to him”, she said. I gave her an encouraging smile, wished her the best for her resolutions and moved over to my desk. My next-desk colleague walked in around 11 AM – pretty much his standard time – and announced his resolution to me that he will reach the office at sharp 9 in the morning from now on. “I know today is the first day of the year and I am already late”, he said as he caught me looking at my wrist-watch “but that is because I had wrongly set the alarm for 8 AM instead of 7”. He didn’t bother to explain why waking up an hour late caused him to reach the office later by 2 hours.

“What’s your New Year resolution?” another colleague asked me at the coffee machine. When I said I do not have any, he gave me a pitiful look and said, “Oh boy! Have you missed out a golden chance! It’s not too late even now. Mine is to hit the gym and get a 6-pack. My wife wants me get flat abs, so I thought why not take it further?” “Also, because this cannot me be met successfully without a solid commitment”, he went on “I am also quitting smoking”. He was expecting some support and looking at me expectantly, so I did the usual of giving him my best wishes and came back to the desk.

So why do people make resolutions that are far-fetched in idea and they know they will never be able to keep them, I have always wondered. I am sure it starts with a noble idea of trying to change something in life and get better results. Moreover, New Year traditionally has been celebrated by bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. New stands of hope, desire and expectation. We all believe in and wish for a better future in the New Year; and perhaps that makes these resolutions synonymous with the New Year. It is time to shrug off things that bother the consciousness and embrace thoughts that add a “feel good factor” in our lives. It ensures a good start and sets the intonation for the rest of the year. Just because no year is better that the previous, the optimism starts fading off soon and the resolutions become scrawny and eventually die off. But they serve the purpose of a good start to the New Year and invoking a resolve of making every day of the year as good as the first. So while I am sure most of these resolutions will not see the end of the year, I do not laugh at them when they come out. That’s one resolution I made a while back and kept it till date.