Why is December not Decembering?

As November ended, when we were utterly exhausted with work and unrealistic deadlines, everyone kept saying the same thing ‘Oh, this is onlyyy till December. Things will slowwww down then.’ Bosses, sources, event planners – all, for once, in agreement.

Being the dreamer I am, I believed them. I imagined hot chocolate evenings, reruns of The Holiday (because it is the Jude Law season), and a December where life would finally take a deep breath. I dreamt. I believed.

Instead, here I am writing this piece because my boss thinks I should complain through my work, attending at least two events a day in an AQI touching numbers that official meters can no longer read, and wondering when, and how exactly, did December become the busiest month of the year.

Where is the holiday spirit? Where are the soft romantic movies, the year-end recaps, the collective pause that we were supposed to take, to look back at a year that has been difficult for most of us (and yes, we can blame some planetary transition for it)?

Why is December feeling like a sprint instead of a slowdown? Why are we finishing work like five-year plans need to be wrapped up in twenty days? Why are we organising birthday dinners, carnivals, concerts, literature festivals chasing Akshaye Khanna for interviews, tracking phone thieves at AP Dhillon concerts, attending everything from Messi to Xmas fests all at once? When exactly are we supposed to pause?

December, it seems, has become a performance month. Like what March is for finance or HR professionals, I guess? A month where everyone is trying to close deals, host events, launch things, and prove their productivity before the year officially ends. The slowing down has been postponed, again, to some vague future point of time called next year. Mere ache din agle saal hi aate hain .


When I complained about all this to my boss, he gave me two more story ideas and said, “You should make this rant into a column.” Of course. Even the complaint must now be productive!! So here it is.

I have been waiting for someone anyone to say, ‘We can circle back to this next year.’ Is nobody going on a holiday anymore? So here’s my janhit mein jaari sandesh do everything you plan to do this month, but do it for the sake of fun not urgency. Let some of us finish what’s pending, say a quiet goodbye to the year, and opt out of the noise without guilt. ‘Tis the season for mulled wine and dry cake. Please go have a piece for yourself and let the rest of us eat ours in peace too. At this point, I even miss those random ‘Merry Xmas and Happy New Year’ messages from people I don’t know.

I’ll still try to make the hot chocolate. I’ll still watch The Holiday . Late at night, because that is the only time I have for myself this December.PS: The writer is very hard-working, but would still like December to behave like December, please!

– This rant comes from veteran workload-exhaustion sufferer Riya Sharma. Her manager, made cognisant of her grievances, has assured her of circling back to redress it, post December

December 17th is unofficially dubbed “World Circle Back Day”, a fun, corporate-themed day (started by Atlassian) to acknowledge the common workplace phrase “Let’s circle back after the holidays”