Non-standard reflection of the writer Leonid Kostyukov on the role of the New Year in our lives.
You usually don’t think about it. This holiday is located deep in the soul, between such roots as your childhood home, parents, the first day at school. Christmas tree, tangerines, Olivier. Okay, let’s not fixate on tangerines.
In this conversation, you still cannot avoid platitudes, well — you begin to appreciate only what you are losing, or at least when the possibility of this loss is indicated. Was someone going to steal the New Year from us like a Hollywood villain? I don’t know for you, yes for me.
In the early 90s, I worked in a good Moscow school. These years are called stormy and dashing; I would limit myself to the definition of «free» — if you do not specifically try to clear this word from bad connotations. If we think carefully around this fundamental concept, then lack of freedom is probably bad from all sides, and freedom is good from almost all sides, but there is one curious place where freedom turns into self-will, and, for example, F.M. Dostoevsky considered it a great disadvantage. In the 90s, dreams came true, people freely realized their various projects. Some of these people were greedy, energetic and immoral, and their freedom looked just disgusting. Some were just paradoxical — and carried their fantastic ideas into the world. It seemed to someone that he had found the truth and could share it with the suffering (sometimes free of charge, more often on a reasonable barter basis). Someone considered himself another incarnation of Krishna or Jesus Christ. The atmosphere of the era favored the even and bright burning of these cerebral torches.
The teaching staff, unanimously pushing off from the side of the official Bolshevik ideology, swam in two directions, which for some reason turned out to be opposite. Some gave themselves entirely to the idea of democracy, while others — to faith in God. Personally, in me, democratic aspirations coexisted quite peacefully with faith in Jesus Christ, but, apparently, some important damper was simply missing in the body. The chronicle of events was briefly described as follows.
- How to win the Christmas race
The Orthodox began to teach the Law of God in a (secular) school. In response, the geographer (an atheist and a democrat) began to interpret the Koran in his lessons. The matter ended with the fact that one teacher was fired for being a witch (unfortunately, this article was not included in the work book — an interesting precedent would have arisen). But it’s already May. And in December, the Orthodox wing questioned whether we needed a New Year. Doubts were based on the fact that, firstly, the New Year distracts from Christmas, and secondly, it falls on fasting.
- He wants to celebrate the New Year in his company
And at the sight of this interrogative note, a lot of things confidently fell into place in my brain. A national holiday (if we agree that it is desirable) cannot be ideological. He must be non-denominational. It should unite people of different views, politicized and not, supporters and opponents of the ruling regime.
Well, let’s not touch May 9th. But everything else is debatable. Wandering around the calendar, Constitution Day can cause inquisitive people questions to the authors of the Constitution, as well as talk about its enforcement. May 1… Some kind of Chicago demonstration in the century before last, for what, against whom? The slippery gender holidays are also of half obscure origin. March 8 has something to do with Clara Zetkin. My trust in Clara Zetkin is minimal. February 23 disgusts me with militarism and attachment to the creation of the Red Army. For example, I remain an incorrigible romantic and still hopelessly root for the whites. Russia’s Independence Day immediately raises another damned question: from whom?
- The most beautiful New Year’s tradition
November 7 — a frank Bolshevik Sabbath — turned into the Day of National Unity. They named the ship well, but, frankly, it did not sail anywhere (except for marginal fascist marches). In short, imagine a dispute at 18.00:18.00 between, for example, a patriot and a liberal. What will they agree on? That’s right, nothing. The only thing (maybe) is that both will come by XNUMX. That’s what unites us — the calculus of time. Here’s what we can note without quarreling — a major zeroing on this nationwide dial. Click.
And of course, this champagne volley should not fall in March or September. Spring and autumn are quite possible to survive and so. But the Russian winter simply needs to be divided into two acts with a small intermission in the buffet and the winter garden. Without this event, the winter would have been twice as hard.
Christmas is a completely different matter. It is incredibly important for those whom it unites. But it does not unite everyone. Thank you New Year!