By Amrita Pai

For me, Christmas has always held special significance. As a child my earliest memories revolved around my mother playing the Gunther Kallerman Choir’s renditions of Christmas Carols at home, walks down Park Street with my family, carol sessions at St Paul’s, and evenings spent watching the whole city of Calcutta come alive with the festive spirit. Though we did not have anything to do with the religious or spiritual aspect of the festival, we looked forward to it more eagerly than the Durga Puja or Diwali.

Some of my most memorable Christmas celebrations involved Sister Bell and her family. She was the Head Nurse at my father’s clinic who would unfailingly invite us each year for amazing Christmas gifts like the cute “Masoom” dolls and lovely handmade wooden toys.

The foodie in me was often awakened by the smells emanating from her kitchen and my first target would be the melt in your mouth variety of Christmas cake. After viewing the splendidly arranged miniatures of baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the manger and checking out the Christmas tree, the adults would be served some sparkling wine  while we children would attack the delicacies. The afternoon would culminate in a delicious lunch at the restaurant Anarkali followed by a movie, the latest Bollywood fare to be precise. This would be the routine every year till Sister Bell moved to Australia in the late 1980s.

Gradually, Christmas tended to come early. In school, it would be celebrated on the last working day before the winter holidays. Mrs George, our Kindergarten teacher, would be unanimously voted to play Santa not just because of her cheerful nature and wide girth but also because no one could imagine anyone else enjoying themselves to the hilt while dressing up in hot red Santa gear and lugging sacks of heavy presents while being tickled mercilessly by a fake beard. We would offer to be her helpers as she went around climbing five storeys, delivering presents to all the children in the school, keeping something aside for the unfortunate absentees. A Christmas tree became a part of the festivities eventually and would decorate the hall through the holidays till we came back for the new session, the next year.

Having spent the last five years in Bandra, Mumbai, Christmas has taken on a different meaning altogether, that of giving rather than receiving. Though I have been working through Christmas every year, I make sure some of the festivities rub off on my daughter. Our proximity to St Anne’s Church makes it imperative that we go there for the midnight mass, the carol singing sessions and to view the scenes from the manger. Like before, lunches are usually out and a movie is also thrown in for childhood’s sake. Last but not the least, time for Christmas presents! Funding a child’s education is perhaps the best thing we have ever done and Christmas is when the tradition started for a baby girl at the Mount Mary’s Orphanage.