" And they lived happily ever after."

The end of every fairy tale, really. That is all there is. And every year end too, we ask for the same thing -A happily-ever after. We hope that the next year will bring a lot more than the year gone by, did. We hope there will be more success garaunteed for us and celebrate every New Year in style. It is human nature after all, to hope and keep on hoping.

2008 wasn't a bad year. It was a year that started with people coming to terms with the assasination of Begum Benazir Bhutto, and a year that ended with people trying to come to terms with the Mumbai blasts and Israel's attacks. The year has carried with it a word of threat, a word of terror; it really brought terrror closer to our homes than ever. And yet I say it wasn't a bad year. Simply because all through this, it taught us to hope and to live together.

As I look at the new dawn of Jan 1st, all I wish for in this new year is peace and quiet. I wish for a unity of people against the word of terror, I wish for simple acts of caring that are not debarred by the dogmas of religion and faith. I hope and pray for a better world, where the meaning of life is understood, the value of life not belittled. I wish for a simple world that is not divided by physical borders or mental ideoligies. And I definitely hope for a safer year than 2008.

And with the start of every new year, comes a list of resolutions. I have made mine too. I don't really succeed at them, but I do try my level best. So here's to 2009, another attempt at trying to keep my resolutions and gaining the happily-ever-after for this year!