Pastor Elvis realized that most of the congregation struggled to stay awake. A lot had gone into preparing a special sermon for the last night of the year. Prayer. Fasting. Waiting on the Lord. And it hurt to see people snoring and not paying attention after such efforts.

So, in the middle of his preaching, he devised a strategy. After every five minutes of talking, he made us stand, clapping as we prayed about things we expected from God for the coming year. The instrumentalists joined with some music. Soon, the prayer times that punctuated the sermons looked like a workout session. Hands in the air, bringing them down slowly, to the left, right, light jumping… The house was lit with spiritual acrobatics.

People kept checking their watches, phones or the timer projected on the screen. Eleven minutes, 58 seconds… 5 minutes… 3….2…1…a few seconds more… Fewer seconds… And voilà ! 2001! Many had predicted that the world would come to an end by the year 2000. And here we were, one year into extra time.

Fireworks cracked and burst so the new year could emerge, tainted with hues of blue, red, yellow and other colors exploding in the sky.

Amidst songs of jubilation, we hugged and congratulated one another for a successful crossing into the new year.

“Happy New year! ” One church member would say to another.

“Happy new year!” came the reply, almost immediately, sometimes mistakenly responding to the wishes of a person one never spoke to.

But this was a new year. Hatred could wait and be resumed after the festivities.

A few announcements later, service was finally over.

Masses of people headed home from various churches. Some denominations hadn’t closed yet.

For a good number of people, part two of the night festivities was just beginning. Some didn’t even wait for service to end before they left. The night clubs would be full if they did not hurry. Many leaving the church to other entertainment centers left in pairs. If you had no lover during times like this, you were indeed a pity.

On the road, cars and motors horned in celebration of the new year. Most of the celebrants were drunk, or were not very far from reaching there. Large numbers of police patrol vehicles combed the streets. One police officer once said that “Please forgive me” does not build roads and hospitals. He meant that fines paid by traffic offenders helped to build the nation. And so, the police were not at all merciful towards any who broke the law during the yuletide.

Many people sat on their house walls or stood in front of their gates to gaze at jubilation scenes crossing their neighborhood into main town.

Even when we finally got home, it was hard to sleep. I was excited to see the new year.  The chilly air of the new year’s dawn tasted new and fresh despite the noise and smoke that filled it.

I winced at the thought of going back to school in a few days time.

For now, I tried to not think about school, learning or any other negative thought along those lines that killed a child’s joy.

I closed my eyes, drew a large volume of fresh air into my lungs and gently exhaled all negativity threatening to erode the joyful mood the new year had ushered me into…