- Bernard Manning
Earlier this week, I heard my husband opening the connecting door between the garage and our house and call out to the kids. The hushed excitement in his voice made me look up from my customary seat on the couch and crane my neck to see what he was holding in his hands. The kids swarmed to him and started jumping up and down looking at the long red package he had. My curiosity got the better of me and I too walked up to them just in time to see them rip open the package and spill the contents out. Lo behold, it was a Christmas Tree.
Christmas period has always been my favourite time of the year. At school, the end of half-term always coincided with Christmas holidays and despite the exams around that time, the school atmosphere was always festive and celebratory leading to the Christmas pageant. Besides in the Hindu culture that I was raised in, this month had a deep religious significance wherein most of the young girls in the neighbourhood would actively showcase our skills in Rangoli - the traditional decorative Indian art. So the month of December has always been associated with some great memories for me - Christmas carols, Nativity play, Rangoli, temples and holidays.
Christmas downunder
After I moved to Australia, Christmas season became even more magical - the Christmas window displays and the lights in the city and the neighbourhood during this season has never failed to infuse me with such pleasure. Of course, the sales everywhere drawing people to spend more money in retail therapy was an added bonus. Work also got more relaxed during Christmas time - it is indeed a sluggish period with very little work done for most office-goers as people generally wind down this time of the year or get pre-occupied planning their shopping-lists and holiday trips. And then comes the much anticipated Christmas party at work where without fail, more alcohol and less inhibition always keep the gossip mills churning the most embarrassing moments of certain office legends till the next party.
But despite the festivity in the air during this period, in all my thirteen years of living abroad, Christmas was more of a spectator event. The tradition of gift-giving and its significance was totally lost on my husband and me. Despite the entire city in celebrations, there were several of us belonging to different religions, different ethnicities, different countries unable to participate or fit completely into the festivities of the mainstream culture. In the end Christmas season just became a holiday period for us more than anything else.
After the kids were born, I used to indulge in getting gifts for them on Christmas Day so they do not feel isolated or left out, when they came home with stories of Santa and Christmas gifts. Eventually this too had kind of petered out. I occasionally used to feel twinges of guilt remembering my own delight in celebrating festivals back home while my kids here were growing up with not much knowledge of their own culture nor that of their inherited one. Despite attending Indian community gatherings and activities organised for the Indian festivals, there was something vital and organic missing while we celebrated festivals outside of our homes.
A new tradition??
So this year when my husband walked in with a Christmas tree which is a first in all these 13 years, I looked at him quite surprised at his gesture. Amidst the excited chatter and delightful shrieks, I feel a slight prickling of tears at the back of my eyes and with a catch in my voice, I ask him "why"? He smiles and replies that the kids asked for it which I knew was not the entire truth. This year my 5 yr old had taken part in a Christmas concert at his daycare and so Anna was subjected to a choir singing every night. Mugi's own lisped rendering of the Christmas carols strengthened by the sweetness of Madhu's voice and occasionally thrown out of whack by my own out-of-tune contribution must have touched a chord in him - the familial atmosphere gladdening his heart. After the ups and downs we have had as a family this year, the simple delight in singing songs of joy during the festive season has managed to bring a sense of normalcy into our lives and perhaps it was his token of gratitude to the kids. Whatever his reasons were, we were all thrilled to have a Christmas tree in the house. Ever since that night, the kids have been writing long lists to Santa though I seriously pity Santa having to read my 5 yr old's mirror style writing :)
It is Christmas Eve and as I maneuver amidst the frantic crowds that throng the shopping mall for their last minute Christmas shopping, I see a myriad of emotions on display. Of course the scenes aren't picture perfect - disgruntled parents, grizzly kids, frayed tempers, tired employees but still beneath all this, lies the unshakable festive spirit that would see them back into the welcoming arms of their families and friends the next day.
Every culture/religion has its own major festivals breaking the monotony of everyday life and encouraging people to exercise more humanity and generosity by traditions of gift-giving and celebrations. But I guess the festival gathers its life-force only when celebrated in whole and not in isolation. Perhaps I should take the kids home during a festival to get in touch with their own roots. In the meantime I cannot wait to see the kids rush to the Christmas tree tomorrow morning and rip open their packages that my husband and I had wrapped after they had gone to bed - merry Christmas to all :)
No comments:
Post a Comment