Ghosts of Christmases Past

It's Christmas and I reflect on Christmases past. I grew up in an environment where I had three major festivals: Holi, Diwali and Christmas. From the time I was about 8-9, Jhulan Jhatra and Magh Bihu was also added. Jhulan Jatra was a really fun festival where we had a whole display area with small idols, animals, etc and best thing was we got money. Holi was fun, dirty and rough. Strangers were no exception and everyone who came into our lane got a heavy dunking. Diwali was noisy and full of preparation. I remember the sunning of the crackers started a week before the actual bursting. Magh Bihu saw us creeping silently through Mon Bahadur's cauliflower and veggie patches behind the Textile Institute in Ambari to collect as many as we could before he saw us and chased us. Our moms were all waiting ready to put these stolen veggies in the communal kichdi they were preparing.

But Christmas! Sigh! Christmas is not and never was a festival... it was and is Magic. Christmas started in November for us those days in Silpukhuri where the whole gang would be busy after school rehearsing for the pantomime we would put up in front of our parents.These were secret rehearsals well hidden from the eyes and ears of our parents mostly in Buli and Bula's house (the top floors were still under construction and we had lot of empty territory) and the script would be prepared by Buli ba, Nita ba and the senior kids... Costumes were made with the help of moms and Dads who pretended not to know. The stage was set in a drawing home in one of the homes, audience was seated and the play began. The one I remember most clearly was 'Jack and the Beanstalk'.

It would be an exciting time at school too with lovely long holidays in sight. Our school fete with the wonderful 'lucky dips' and food and games stalls heralded the beginning of winter. Someone would be Santa (always wanted to know whether it was a Sister from our convent or maybe a Father from Don Bosco dressed up as one.. never got to really find out!) and we would all get packets of sweets, whistles and sometimes biscuits too. Carols were on full swing, both in school as well as at home. Silent night sung by me could move you to tears!

Santa at home would usually be a visiting cousin, mostly my cousin from Shillong. As my brother and I always had a Kong ( a Khasi Nanny) looking after us, we would accompany her to church on Christmas day...not midnight mass. Our most subtle good children clothes and best behaviour. I prayed with great fervour those days. I could see parents doing some secret stuff and later realised it had to do with our presents. Once, I had at the last minute asked for some state-of-the-art kind of doll at the last minute and I remember someone telling me that North Pole is now closed and I (bless me) truly believed.

Christmas, now that I am much much older, continues its magic and feeling of immense joy. Our house is still always full of songs on Christmas day... Balaram, my younger son especially is extremely vocal with Jingle Bells. Now I am the one with my husband secreting presents here and there, filling stockings on tip toes. A couple of years back, I fell asleep before my boys and the stockings remained unfilled and this time it was I who told them a story of how there would be two days of stocking filling because Santa got a bit late on the way.

Christmas for me had nothing to do with Religion (neither did Diwali or Holi). Yes, of course we had nativity scenes and we knew we were celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas for us was that wonderful time of winter holidays, presents, songs, joy and happiness all around. Christmas for me still is that wonderful thing that gives me a glow inside. You want to give, give, give. You want to hug the whole world. Christmas is simply a feeling that's warm, happy, comforting and fuzzy. Something like a mug of hot chocolate.

A Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you. May joy, happiness, peace and hope always be with you!