India gears up to welcome 2014

Leaving behind memories of an eventful year, India geared up to move into 2014 with celebrations, music and food festivals.

Thousands of foreign tourists thronged India's party capital, Goa, which boasts of colonial Portuguese charm, sun-kissed beaches and great seafood.

Amid enthusiasm, the locals and tourists in the city said that the town was overjoyed to celebrate the New Year.

"We are here visiting family and we come here every two years around this time. We are just going to be in and around Goa. We are actually going to big fort tomorrow and I mean, we always love to come here," said a tourist from San Francisco, Sheena Williams.

In a cheerful and festive mode, people in Guwahati were seen singing and enjoying at a carnival.

"This festival has been organised to welcome the New Year, which is why it is called the great Guwahati festival welcoming 2014. There are over 20 varieties of food stalls here, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. We also have authentic food from Manipur and Nagaland. We also have Punjabi, Gujrati and Rajasthani food for people thronging the festival. We also have traditional dances here today," said one of the organisers of the food and music carnival, Satish Hazarika.

New Year marks the beginning of a new calendar year and is considered as a propitious occasion that is celebrated with great zeal in India and all across the world.

This year was an action-packed one for India. It saw inflation dip to a three-year low and the benchmark BSE Sensex touched its life high of 21,483.74 points. India also took steps to bolster the rupee and curb gold imports while India Inc saw the Ambani brothers come together for business.

Meanwhile, Indian cricketing legend, Sachin Tendulkar bid a teary-eyed farewell to cricket. Tendulkar walked into the sunset in November after his 200th test at his home Wankhede Stadium, which brought the nation to a standstill.