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Going down the memory lane, which is very short as I attained adulthood only a few months back, I remember the best Christmas I ever celebrated. My mind wanders to the Diu days, when I used to attend a school called Nirmala Mata Convent, which was funded by the Church. It was the only English medium school the little island could boast of. Christmas used to be a time of fun and frolic over there. It was about carols, dancing, sweets and games for the children, and the relatively sober and religious Midnight Mass for the adults. All the children used to gather in the school grounds irrespective of their religion, social strata or the fact whether they belonged to that school or not, danced with Santa Claus and sang with the teachers.Many a time our kind headmaster Father Brian used to play Santa. And indeed, to most children he was the epitome of kindness and generosity, and they never bothered to differentiate between him and Father Christmas. The Holy Father used to conduct all the children to the Church where they had a sumptuous treat of Christmas cake, sitting on the pews on which the Portuguese Lords and Ladies of bygone days sat and prayed. A Guitar player from a nearby house came, and all the children sang to their hearts’ content. Later on, I had the opportunity to live at many places much larger and of greater importance to world than little Diu. I saw many fashionable people celebrating their respective festivals, yet nothing matched what the humble church of Diu did, within its limited means. No one seems to realize these days the joy of giving as the small Christian community, comprising of a few hundreds did. We celebrate festivals by increasing our waistlines and cholesterol counts, lightening our pockets by expenditure on the fancy stuff and trying to find happiness on the glitz and glamour of the world. Why not give sweets to the neighborhood poor and celebrate the ‘spirit of giving’, which is the basis of every festival. It’s time we the Uncle Scrooges of the day realize the spirit of Christmas somewhere inside us, because we may not have the the three ghosts to salvage us from our selfishness.
This is so true. When you actually come into the larger materialistic world and start becoming a part of it, do you realize how important such little things are, you realize their importance. The actual spirit of festivals no more remains in the bigger world. Sad but true!
This is so true. When you actually come into the larger materialistic world and start becoming a part of it, do you realize how important such little things are, you realize their importance. The actual spirit of festivals no more remains in the bigger world. Sad but true!