Christmas is a time that we associate with holly and mistletoe. The typical holly leaves are a part of Christmas decorations, wreaths and cards. Holly does not grow in Goa, and there is no true mistletoe, either.
The Christmas tree, Araucaria cookii, is also a recent introduction to Goa. Till then, the people of Goa made do with the false pine from Australia, Casuarina equisitifolia, which is a xerophyte, rather than a conifer.
The parasitic plant, Viscum alba or bhendul, growing on the branches of mango and cashew trees served as a mistletoe alternative for decorations. The leaves of the mangrove plant, Ilex acantifolia, resembles the holly, but rare is the person who will wade through muck to collect its twigs for decorations!
SEEING GREEN
In Goa, our elders had a simple way of getting the children involved in agriculture and keeping us connected to ‘Goemchi tambddi mati’ the red earth of Goa, which gives us life and sustenance. We were encouraged to make a scaled-down model of the countryside to situate the crib and place the figurines of the holy family to remember the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
It actually rains in Bethlehem from November to February and the grass is green on the hillsides this time of the year. So, the mock fields that we, in Goa, did with rice, wheat or finger millet (nachini or ragi) sprouts were not out of character for the nativity scene. Germinating cereals and millets is something that was child’s play back then and remains child’s play now.
