New Year Cornerstone

Corners. They are more than the place where two planes meet. More than disparate destinies united from out of infinity.

They are convergences and strength. Two walls. Two walls and a ceiling. A street-corner. The corner store.

I spotted a corner that pleased me very much, serendipity on New Year’s Eve, a simple message above a corner sweet shop on Mysore’s Sayyaji Rao Road. Guru’s Sweet Mart, just off K.R. Circle—which, it should be noted, has no corners.

Happy New Year meets Happy New Year. A simple admonition, a statement of hope and promise, but also purpose.

A happy year won’t just occur. You must make it occur. Obstacles arise. These are not the problem, not the hindrance to happiness. How you handle the obstacles, these are the problem, the resolution, your happiness.

“Cornered” also means trapped, no way of escape. Don’t let yourself be cornered. Do not pretend that “Happy New Year” is a wish.

It is the way.

We see corners and think: this is where things come together. Maybe so.

Corners are also the starting point of divergence, two planes parting ways, extending outward, diverging indefinitely. Corners can be the beginning as much as the end.

New Year’s Eve is the corner and the year extends outward, your fate in expansion.

Twinkle, the corner garment store in Bangalore. Not be be confused with Mumbai’s Gentleman’s Hair Salon, also called Twinkle.

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