Revellers shrug off security fears, usher in new decade

New Delhi, Jan 1 (PTI) Revellers across India shrugged
off security fears to ring in the New Year and usher in a new
decade on Friday with boisterous festivities and firework
displays and the celebrations remaining largely incident free.

The New year's eve celebrations during when a lunar
ecplise was seen--a rare celestial event on December 31-- also
saw some unusual ways to bid good-bye to 2009.
As millions raised a toast to the new year with music,
wine and revelry, a daring few in the Meghalaya capital
Shillong in north-east India did it in a unique style --
swimming in the ice-cold waters.
And Gujarat in west India--a dry state--and Rajasthan, a
milky idea was floated by some activists asking revellers to
welcome the new year by drinking milk and junk liquor.
Banners and hoardings were put up in Vadodara and Jaipur
urging people to raise a toast not with "daru" but with
"doodh". 200 persons were arrested for consuming alcohol at a
farmhouse in Surat in Gujarat.
The happening places in all cities rocked and danced till
late night as revellers hopped pubs, restaurants and malls.
In pockets of serenity, some families saw the hours tick
away with a quiet dinner and television programmes that beamed
in the party elsewhere in the country and abroad.
In Mumbai unlike a year back when the festivities were
subdued in the wake of the terror attack that left 166 persons
dead, people had a blast beating away the recession blues.
Security men kept a hawk's vigil because of the terror
alert in the country's financial capital which remained chilly
and experienced the coldest new year's eve night in recent
years with mercury dipping to around 13 degrees Celsius.
In New Delhi, roads leading to Connaught Place was
blocked and traffic diverted. The most happening place was
also robbed of some sheen due to renovation work.(MORE) PTI
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