Christmas Day came and went, but the season is still on. Yet, the kitchens in Goa were not as busy as they used to be in the past, in the days leading up to Christmas.
Sweets, dishes that were once rustled up in homes, are now being purchased. Or, the cooking and baking is being outsourced, but the rustle of Christmas activity has not diminished. Other tasks have taken over.
Instead of the kitchens, the hustle and bustle has moved to the other rooms of the house and decorating the walls – perhaps the phrase decking the halls, as in the carol, would be a more appropriate – is what’s taking up time.
In the not too distant past, you thought of Christmas preparations in November when you had to buy cards and post them to relatives abroad.
These days, there are no cards that come to the doorstep via snail mail, but forwarded messages keep popping up on cell phones. In that sense, there are more Christmas wishes exchanged now than in the past, though it is not as personal as it used to be.
Yet, Christmas memories now seep in quite early in November as shops take out their Christmas specials and display them for sale. Suddenly, what you never thought you would own, is on the most-needed list.
In the not too distant past, you thought of Christmas preparations in November when you had to buy cards and post them to relatives abroad.
Some years ago, and before that, too, there was perhaps just one tablecloth carefully embroidered at home with Christmas motifs that our ancestors owned, that was brought out annually for the Christmas meal, and then washed and just as carefully set aside for the next year.
Now, it’s not just the tablecloth, but napkins, doilies, runners and any number of Christmas items, that you can pick up from the shop and take home. And, people do take them home, in numbers.
And, when you have all that at home, you need to use them, display them in your living room, dining room and even bedroom. That’s when you deck the halls.
So, that’s where the activity now takes place as almost everything in the home is replaced with Christmas motifs, and suddenly the room is all red, green and tinselled.
There was perhaps just one tablecloth carefully embroidered at home with Christmas motifs that our ancestors owned, that was brought out annually for the Christmas meal, and then washed and just as carefully set aside for the next year.
It doesn’t stop there. Of course, there is the tree and its decorations and the crib and its figures.
Once, it was a common sight on December 23 and 24 to see people rushing to the beaches and the shore, cutting off branches of the casuarina trees that grew there in abundance and carting them home to decorate, usually with strips of crepe paper and balloons, besides a few ornaments.
Now, that practice of cutting tree branches has stopped – good for the environment, of course – and instead, one unpacks the artificial tree of the pervious year or the one just purchased from the shop, trimming it with ornate decorations.
The crib, too, is pre-made and picked up from the roadside hawkers or the makeshift stalls in the market, and so too with the stars and the lights. It’s all bought and only unpacked at home.
Yet, it all still takes time to set up and find ways to make it look better than the scene of the previous year.
Once, it was a common sight on December 23 and 24 to see people rushing to the beaches and the shore, cutting off branches of the casuarina trees that grew there in abundance and carting them home to decorate.
Christmas, like all other festivals has taken on a commercial quality. Yet, some aspects remain constant – having a crib, a tree, lights and sweets. They may come differently – packaged – but what’s Christmas Day without all this, not forgetting the gifts underneath the tree.
But, is that all there is to Christmas? Is it all jingle bells, and deck the halls and singing and dancing? Or, is there more? It’s the birth of Christ and that is what makes Christmas such a big feast.
The Christmas tree in the houses is artificial, but the spirit of the season is still real and will remain so.
In all the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas, it was good to see people taking time to visit neighbours who are homebound, visiting homes for the aged or orphanages, spending time with those in hospitals or with those not so fortunate.
As the days go by, this spirit will hopefully live on, for Christmas season does not end on December 25, but continues into the New Year, till the feast of the Epiphany. If the decorations stay up till then, the spirit of the season also should.
