In this Christmas blog, I would like to share my experiences of the Christmas season over the years from my childhood.
I was born in the generation between the ’80s and ’90s in Bangalore, India. Where there was less Digital technology. Christmas was celebrated in a different manner back then. There was more gathering of people and a bit old-styled look to the festival, unlike today where there are less physical affection and more of spending money lavishly, diminishing the spirit of Christmas.
The people during our times were more into Outdoor games like cricket, football, basketball, hockey, etc and into extracurricular activities. Most of the houses had a Television with DD network and a BSNL telephone. We were glued to a few programs, particularly during the weekends. There were good shows back then.
Just before the start of December people would hang the stars on the outside and would get the cribs ready for the Christmas season for Christmas decor. People would build cribs on their own with hay, wood, and cardboards.
Before the start of Christmas, there would be people going from one house to the other singing carols and in turn praying for their families and distributing gifts, calendars, and other merchandise. Most of the schools and colleges will be shut until the next year for holidays. Children’s would be a happier lot as they would enjoy with their friends and families.
Men, woman and their families would spend their time shopping for clothes, gifts, and other Christmas decor to celebrate Christmas.
Grandmothers and their daughters-in-law would prepare Christmas delicacies like cookies, chaklis, rose cookies and other such amazing mouth-watering dishes which would last an entire month or more as people prepared to cook themselves rather than buying it , unlike nowadays. Some would also bake their own tasty cakes, pies and muffins which people would give it to their neighbors.
Christmas in India generally falls during winter, It’s a season of good food, partying, playing, meeting our friends and family followed by good sleep as it falls during winter. In the 80’s and ’90s, people lived a slow-paced life, people would interact with neighbors and other people of the locality. Men would start the day with a drink of coffee or tea, sitting on a couch or man-made stone benches reading the newspaper followed by going to offices or doing their own business. They would leave offices by 5.30 or 6.00 pm and would reach home earlier, many would travel by Buses, cycles, scooters, etc. Our parents were very systematic people, who valued morals, respected each other, were honest and believed in hard work. we were privileged to have lived in that time frame as we happened to see and witness two generations ie 90’s and the 20th century (the year 2019 ).
Traffic was something that was unheard of, roads would be surrounded by various trees and plants. There were only a few traffic signals back then, I still remember there would be a traffic cop sitting inside the sheltered signal monitoring the traffic manually. There were no Major digital technology application unlike nowadays, Back then the number of people living here were less, Due to the IT revolution the entire Bangalore, India is transformed into a crowded place where there is fewer trees and playgrounds. It’s become more of a concrete jungle. Likewise, we can’t blame the people moving in as they come here to earn and make a living.
Mobile phones were not present, only a few houses had Phone Landlines. People would use Phone landlines to convey very important messages. I still remember that the neighbors around would use our phone number to share the same with their family members to communicate in case of any urgency. We would take our cycles and go to our Christian friends’ home to enjoy food delicacies, play with them and help them with the decoration for Christmas. Back then we used to visit our friends, other places and stand and call out their names, accordingly the person or the family members would respond to us. Back then everything was beautiful, we were connected to each other, Now I use the smartphones, we have many numbers on our contact list but you can’t meet them as most of them are busy and aren’t available. I believe although the technology has brought interaction closer, it has made us live Farrer from each other. I sometimes believe that we live artificial lives has many live a stress-filled life chasing money and other luxurious things of life which I see it as less significant. Our parents were healthy and lived a healthy life. The food was cooked at home, people used to pack their food to homes. People rarely used to eat outside, except for people who were served food in the respective office’s canteens. Now I see various restaurants and hotels at various corners and streets, I always believed people cooked healthy food hygienically at homes, Although I sometimes do eat outside or order food online, I always prefer home-cooked food.
Most neighbouhood had fewer Christians, as Most of the people belonged to Hindu faith. There were pockets of christian people in few localities. I was always fascinated with Christians and their families, I found them very helpful, sharing love,caring and helping the poor etc
Brief History of Christmas-
Christmas which falls in the month of December is a holiday of celebration. It a season of very high significance for many people belonging to the Christian faith(Christianity). Christmas is to acknowledge, remember, honor and respect the savior of this world, Jesus Christ birth. Who was sent by the Lord as a sacrifice for the sins of every Humans. Christians have always contributed to the overall development of the country. They have established several prominent hospitals, colleges, school, Institutions for which people give preference to, old age homes, rehabilitation centers, homes to the poor, free food for the needy to name a few.
During our school days in the 2000’s just before the start of the month the teachers would pile up assignments for us to complete as we would get a good 7 to 10 days of holidays for Christmas. I and my friends would go and visit our friend’s home and enjoy the festive season. Back then most of the household had a cycle and the head of the family had a Two wheeler, Car was a luxury. We used to drive fearlessly in our cycles, as Bangalore was less crowded and our parents would not object.
We would spend hours and hours of time on the playground, as we had plenty of open places to play. We would call our friends or plan with them well in advance and would go to their homes to meet them in person. I would end up going to my Grandmother’s home in Cox town were there was a sizable Christian population, the house close by had a fully grown X-mass tree on which the decoration would be done. In the night I would end up gazing the stars and the decorated X-mas tree in awe and believe me these moments is something which is very memorable to me even now.
The People would attend the night and morning masses at churches along with their friends and families, the neighbors would then distribute plum cakes, chocolates, gifts and homemade Mutton /chicken biryani to the non-Christian families around on the eve of Christmas. The kids in our locality would enjoy by going to parks, street shopping, singing, and merrying. I remember walking to Coles Park on many occasions along with my aunt on many occasions to enjoy the nature and the peace that it once stood, we would see many people skating, the birds chirping, singing. People exercising, sitting, eating and ending in long conversions.
In our time we had good programs, premier of cartoons through which we learned the English language which in turn instilled values like honesty, patriotism, respect, hard work and other qualities which many of the people during our era would relate to. A few examples of cartoons during our era being
GI Joe, Swat Kats, Johnny quest, Yogi bear,
Top cat,
He-man,
Transformers, Dragon Ball-Z, Ninja robots, Birdman, Space Ghost, Teenage mutant ninja turtles to name a few. Also We would be glued to our TV’s feeling exhausted from playing sports. Most of the cartoons would reflect Christmas, which would feature Christmas related themes and Christmas movies and messages during the season of Christmas. And movie channels would reflect the same by premiering
movies of Jesus and other Christmas oriented movies. The Joy of Christmas would continue to the end of December. Thank you for reading my Christmas blog, please like, share and comment my article if you liked this article. To go home- Click here
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