Not colonial, or 2025, but the hangover

In case you didn't notice, today's the 1st of January. Slowly, but surely, clarity will bring you the news that India (read: you) does not have to actually worry about any colonial hangover, or 2025 hangover. Your head, almost always a reliable barometer, will tell you that the real burden is of the hangover hangover. Countering various unpleasant effects usually following copious consumption of alcohol may not be in any political party's election promise. But you can bet your teetotalitarian fantasy that this is real. This is the only hangover that respects no ideology. It strikes the nationalist and the anti-national with equal force. It does not care whether you toasted the new year with imported Scotch, desi rum or something suspiciously labelled 'Apple Cider', but wasn't. By this morning, you have been united in one patriotic chorus: Never again.

Pounding temples, WhatsApp forwards sent at 2.37 am, and a sudden, deeply philosophical hatred of sunlight are far more serious things to deal with than whether the Brits - and Nehru - are to blame for everything about the current state of the country. The 2025 hangover comes with buzzwords - AI disruption, global uncertainty, resilience. The real hangover comes with the urgent need to renegotiate one's relationship with New Year Eve partying. Till Dec 31, 2026, then. Happy New Year [groan].