Decking the halls

One never falls short of variety when shopping for Christmas decorations. The markets are flooded with Christmas trees and decorations with each store displaying something innovative and attractive.

There are stars, Christmas trees, buntings, bells, snowmen and mistletoes. Even the traditional Christmas tree seems to have undergone a transformation of sorts. There are trees with in-built lights, those with a dash of white and also white Christmas trees available.

From the eco-friendly decorations to the downright commercial ones, Christmas decorations are selling like hotcakes. Anju M P, a banker, puts up her Christmas tree in the first week of December.

"We bought an artificial tree three years ago and we continue to use it. The tree remains the same, but I make sure I change the decorations every year. I love shopping for tiny stars, bells and unusual decorations," says Anju.
Maria R, an employee with Ernst & Young, who enjoys decorating the tree with her own creations and those bought from the markets.

"I used to make small Christmas balls and stars. But now after I started working, I don't find the time to make them but I use the ones that I have made earlier. For me, Christmas tree is a symbol of hope, love and peace. I wait for December to arrive to decorate the tree," says Maria.

Space constraints have deterred many a Bengalurean from decorating the real tree and are forced to settle for small artificial ones. Nikita Paul, a web analyst, says that she misses decorating a real tree.

"We used to have a real tree but now we don't have the space to keep one. So we've settled for an artificial one. In addition to dolling up the tree with the
regular decorations, I also buy the small pines and paint them which I later hang on the tree," says Nikita. She also places gifts at the bottom of the tree for her little cousins. "These gifts are an add on to the Christmas tree and are opened only on Christmas day."

The spirit of Christmas has caught on with people from other communities as well. Shalini S Kumar, an IT professional, looks forward to celebrating the festival and decorating the tree with her colleagues at office.

"Christmas brings everybody together and we put up a small Christmas tree in our workplace and decorate it with lights, attractive stars, bells and other colourful decorations," says Shalini.

There's visible excitement among the shopkeepers in the City to offer the best decorations at competitive prices. Jitendra J, a shopkeeper at a store in Kammanahalli, has displayed Christmas trees with an inbuilt lighting system. "This is a new addition to our store. The lighting system comes embedded in the tree so when you turn on the switch, the whole tree lights up. We also have the regular green trees and white trees with multi-coloured lighting system," says Jitendra.