Bringing joy to the world!

The glowing stars hanging in front of the houses, and carol singing competitions being held at various schools at the onset of December sets the mood for Christmas. While women plan on exchanging recipes and start cooking sweets and delicacies in batches, men and children, clad in warm clothing look forward to leisurely evenings when they can savour these heavenly snacks.

Christmas tree that suits your budget, colour lights, trinkets, stars, glossy hangings, decorative items displayed at the shops well in advance, while ‘joy to the world...’ plays in the background remind us that Christmas is just around the corner.

More than being a festival restricted to a particular faith, Christmas today has taken people from across communities under its wings, and has left them bitten by the festive bug. In the European countries, where Christmas is celebrated with grandeur, during the time of the year when days and nights are beyond freezing, the Chirstmas spirit lingers on and draws everyone out of their cocoons to join the celebration. White Christmas (which usually indicates the snow fall), which brings enthusiasm and cheer, leaves everyone happy and content. 

Back home in India, with just a week ahead for the festival, womenfolk and children are busy setting up a crib, which is an annual ritual that displays the birth of Jesus Christ at a cowshed decorated with idols of infant Jesus, Joseph, Mary, sheep and shepherds.

Snow, X’mas and Christmas tree are almost synonymous as one cannot visualise the festival  heralding the birth of Jesus without a Christmas tree, cakes, pastries, stuffed turkey and of course, Santa Claus and wine!

Speaking to City Herald, Teresa, who has been setting up a crib and Christmas tree for the past 15 years says, earlier the government used to announce at least a week holiday for Christmas for schools and colleges. But now it has become an one-day affair for majority of the school children, since schools conduct exams soon after, participation of children has reduced. They do not lend a helping hand while their parents work on aspects surrounding Christmas. The whole family coming together and setting up the crib, baking cakes, decorating the tree and inviting friends home for dinner were the most enjoyable, with ideas flowing in from the young and old alike. “Now, we stress that they only decorate the Christmas tree as per their whims and fancies, only to see their faces glow with pride after the job is complete,” she adds.

By mid-December most of them begin decorating their houses in phases with coloured lights, paper cuttings, plastic decorations around the rooms. Some also decorate the trees in their gardens too.

Sending greeting cards to friends and relatives was a rage a couple of years ago, but with the internet dominating the world, you can exchange wishes to a whole group of friends at the click of a mouse without spending much time and money. But still there are old timers, who are particular about sending cards with religious imagery. However, gradually, they are being replaced by cartoons and natural scenery, as a token in keeping with the tradition.

Christmas trees are available at nurseries, which can be planted well in advance, so that it brings a sense of satisfaction to have a tree of your own, instead of using artificial ones, Teresa adds.

The very important aspect of Christmas, are the gifts brought by Santa Claus. Children usually are excited and discuss with their siblings about what they would want as a gift from Santa Claus.

The gift shops in the city have an amazing collection of new arrivals for gift items. The Chinese products are slowly invading Indian markets with majority of the gifts manufactured to lure the young ones are imported from China, with the labels clearly indicating ‘Made in China’.

When the neighbours of Christian community too await for their share to savour the home made cakes, Gal Gal and biriyanis, many malls and bakeries open up to display a variety of cakes being baked exclusively for the festival, which is thronged by the visitors.

The Christian schools in the city also preparing to conduct programmes as part of the festival and organise feasts to celebrate the same. Special mass would be held at all the churches in the city, including at the most famous St Philomena’s church, on December 24 midnight to celebrate the birth of infant Jesus.