A CALL FOR SANITY IN AN AGE OF OUTRAGE
Manish Modi
A CALL FOR SANITY IN AN AGE OF OUTRAGE
~ Manish Yashodhar Modi
As I began my New Year lying in bed, enforced by a severe back spasm, I wondered at the sheer hypocrisy and petulance that have become the hallmark of our social media activism of late. Truth is often an uncomfortable guest, but it is time for a collective reality check. As the world marked the arrival of 2026, a familiar, discordant cacophony of rejection played out across digital platforms.
While it is imperative to cherish our traditional roots, the aggressive demonisation of 31 December festivities has become a masterclass in intellectual dishonesty.
It is time to be blunt: Get over yourself.
I am deeply patriotic and immensely proud of India’s heritage, culture, history, religions, languages, and literature. I love my country and refuse to let my love be hijacked by a narrow, xenophobic lens that ignores reality. The recent trend of West-bashing is not just hypocritical and intellectually lazy; it is fundamentally silly.
We live in a world where our entire infrastructure, from our parliamentary governance and judicial system to our financial markets, education system, and technological backbone, is predicated upon global standards and the Western ideals of egalitarianism and equality before the law.
To decry a calendar while using a smartphone, navigating a global economy, and relying on a legal system grounded in universal ideals is the height of hypocrisy.
The way we dress, our professional lives, and our food habits are deeply integrated into a globalised fabric. To accept the fruits of this system 364 days a year and then turn into a cultural vigilante on the 365th day is not a defence of heritage; it is a display of profound ignorance.
Furthermore, we must recognise that there is no singular Indian New Year, and thus no single date to be defended against the world. Our culture and heritage are vast and many-splendoured; they cannot be sequestered into one religion, one language, or one mindset.
The observance of our regional New Years is a complex and beautiful science, determined by whether a lunar, solar, or lunisolar calendar is followed. In Gujarat and many parts of Northern India, the New Year is celebrated on the day after Dipavali. For those following the lunar cycle in Chaitra, it is celebrated as Ugadi (Yug Aadi) in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka, or Gudi Padva in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, those following the solar calendar celebrate the New Year in mid-April as Bohag Bihu in Assam, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Vishu in Kerala, Poila Boishakh in Bengal, Maha Bishuba Sankranti in Odisha, and Chet in Punjab. The Sindhi festival of Cheti Chand also marks this vibrant tapestry.
The Parsis, Sikhs, Christians, and Muslims each have their own traditional calendars, all of which are valid and valued.
In a nation of such astounding pluralism, we should mind our own business rather than get caught up in narratives of othering the West or promoting a single viewpoint. Diversity is not a threat to our strength; it is our strength and our glory.
The urge to reject the Western New Year, or the misplaced zeal in harassing those who celebrate days like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, is part of a darker trend: the demonisation of the other. It encourages mob vigilantism and promotes a dangerous herd mentality.
India is a beautiful, sovereign, and secular nation. Our strength has never been found in isolation, but in our unique, age-old ability to synthesise and embrace differing views.
This spirit of acceptance is built into both our ancient cultural DNA and our modern Constitution. When we allow rabid intolerance to take root, we risk transforming a land of sages and seekers into a nation of ideologues whose only raison d'être is disruption and chaos.
Don’t be a hypocrite. There is no war between the global calendar and our traditional calendars. One allows us to synchronise with the world; the others keep us rooted in our diverse spiritual soils. They can, and should, coexist without friction. We must seek to recognise and embrace this diversity.
If we lose the capacity for tolerance, we lose the very essence of what it means to be a modern, progressive society.
This New Year, prioritise logic over xenophobia and good judgment over manufactured rage. Don’t be swayed by what’s trending on social media.
Live and let live. Celebrate the global moment, and honour your traditional New Year when it arrives. True strength lies in the grace to do both, and in the wisdom to accept the world as it is.
🙏🏻🇮🇳