No humbug, this Christmas!
SANDEEP SINHA
“Christmas, a humbug uncle!,"said Uncle Scrooge's nephew. "You don't mean that, I am sure." "I do," said Scrooge. "Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You are poor enough."
The sceptism of Uncle Scrooge was not shared by his nephew in the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas carol" and while everyone may not be lucky enough to celebrate it by pouring brandy on pudding with a branch of holly stuck in it, blue flames dancing, followed by a turkey dinner, the festival remains universal in its appeal because it values suffering, service and compassion.
No wonder then that Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas used to go out at night, distributing goodies, mainly among the poor children, to make them happy. Santa Claus no longer rides a reindeer sleigh and includes children of all classes for giving away sweets and toys, but his popularity has contributed towards boosting the festive fervour.
The church in Sector 19 was an embodiment of this. On Tuesday morning, as one walked through its gates, one was greeted by the sight of school buses parked inside. YPS, Shishu Niketan, DPS Play Way and Shamrock had all sent busloads of kids, chaperoned by teachers to have a look at the way the church was gearing up for the Christmas festivities. Inside the church, sat a group of schoolchildren, slightly elder, singing carols.
And they were not all Christians. A sharp contrast to the controversy generated over Rahul Gandhi being a Hindu or not in the run-up to the Gujarat elections. I had once visited Kathmandu as a student. As we went to the famous Pashupatinath temple, we were greeted by the sight of a board that said, "Ghair Hinduon ka pravesh varjit hai." (Non-Hindus are barred from entering the temple). A Muslim co-student was crestfallen and we had to work hard to ensure that he was able to continue with his sight-seeing. In Sector 19, in fact, some of the vendors selling Christmas goodies were Muslims from Saharanpur and Moradabad.
In keeping with this spirit, the church is organizing an exhibition with the theme, "Breaking barriers, building bridges." It was inaugurated on Monday evening by the Bishop of Shimla-Chandigarh Diocese, Ignatius Mascarenhas, and will continue well into the New Year, till January 6, 2018.
The exhibition is contemporary in nature and has messages that are more social than religious in nature. There is a portrait of Pope Francis with details on him, but alongside is a portrait of Kailash Satyarthi, the children's rights activist, who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2014 along with Malala Yousufzai of Pakistan.
There was the Sermon on the Mount that had influenced Mahatma Gandhi and of course the star of Bethlehem, the miraculous sign believed to have indicated the birth of Jesus Christ. It also has messages on modern lifestyle. One of the stalls has the message, "Landline united the family; Mobile divides the family." So, very true! Landline was about the days when a phone call was about catching up with kith and kin while mobile has become a tool of distraction even amidst a family get-together.
It is said that a family that prays together and eats together, stays together. In the movie "Avalon", directed by Barry Levinson, members of a Russian Jewish immigrant family into the US, gradually grow in numbers and move to suburbs. On Thanksgiving, a family patriarch arrives late for dinner, only to find that the turkey has been cut without him. "You cut the turkey without me!" is a memorable scene from the film. Angry, he storms out, beginning a family feud. Christmas is one such occasion.
Brother Sukhvinder, who was supervising arrangements, is studying for priesthood. Originally from Amritsar, he said the midnight mass will be held as usual both on Christmas and New Year Eve. Regional adaptation is evident with a langar being organized on December 25.
As I left, young children entered the Biblical exhibition hall, in neat rows. A little Shamrock girl caught my finger, "Uncle, andar mein kya hai." "Exhibition hai," I answered. What better way to teach values than take them to these places, instead of preaching from the pulpit. As these lines at the exhibition said, "If not now, then when? If not you, then who?"
