Christmas is just one day away. Tomorrow is the day of celebrations for Christians all over the world. I, being a Hindu, do not celebrate Christmas as in I do not decorate my house with Christmas tree and invite guests over. But the festival always ends up being a warm holiday, thanks to winters. The chill and the holiday give one ample excuses to cook something delicious and then snuggle inside the quilt for a good nap. When I was a child, I always looked forward to Dec 25 as it meant the onset of winter vacation. The prospect of enjoying a “no-school” routine used to fill my heart with joy and I always looked forward to Christmas and the days ahead.
Another thing that fascinated me about the festival was the Christmas cake. It used to instigate me to make a funny wish. It would make me wish to be born into a Christian family so that I could savor the delicacy 🙂 The look of the cake enticed me a great deal but more than the look it was my family that made me crave for the cake. We being strict vegetarians never welcomed cakes in the house and if at all, pastries were ordered, they had to be eggless. So, the cake was a subject of deep fascination for me. I also used to wish for our Hindu Gods to be offered cakes instead of sweets.
As I grew older, the cake fascination went away and was replaced with something different. In class 10th, I read Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” It was part of our English literature syllabus and it made me understand that the real meaning of Christmas lay in compassion. The story of miser Ebenezer Scrooge and how the spirits from the past, present and future give him a chance to redeem his ways touched a chord in my adult heart. The tale brought forth the values of generosity and kindness in a very fine way. It not only highlighted the importance of compassion but also underlined the theory of good karma through the ghost of Scrooge’s dead partner- Jacob Marley.
Another very fond and inspiring Christmas memory that I hold in high esteem is that of a serial or rather telefilm that I watched on TV many years back. It narrated a very touching story again highlighting the value of kindness and compassion. It revolved around a boy, the son of a single mother, who had lost his father. He was kindhearted and innocent and was very eager to participate in the Christmas drama that was being staged in his school. So, he asks his teacher to be given a role but the teacher is not confident of his acting skills and turns him away.
After much pleading, the boy does land a role but the role is completely opposite to his nature. He is given the role of the heartless innkeeper who refused shelter to a pregnant Mary and her husband Jospeh. Nonetheless, the boy prepares hard and gets all the lines and expressions right. But when he has to do the same on stage, he is unable to do so. He gets so immersed in the play and is so moved by the pregnant Mary’s pain that he forgets his dialogues. He freezes and despite his teacher’s prompting from the sidelines, lets Mary and Jospeh in, ruining the entire play. Everyone is in shock, especially his mother who is sitting in the audience but after a few seconds the slow claps begin, slowly turning into loud cheers, overwhelming his mother and teacher, who are seen shedding tears of joy 🙂
Well, the festive spirit is in the air and Christmas is here again. I am quite grown up now and it is neither cake nor winter vacation that I wish for at this stage. All I wish for is a kind and warm heart for everyone just like the boy in the telefilm so that all of us can see the pain of others and be generous enough to offer them help.
Merry Christmas 🙂
Reflections 