Walk along the streets of any town in Goa and you will find carols being played at shops and cafes apart from them being adorned with Christmas decorations, Christmas sweets being sold in abundance and even Christmas trees and cribs are standing ready for sale. But where is the Christmas spirit which we all grew up with and so accustomed to gone?
Formerly every child would commence his Christmas preparations with the making of a crib well before December 18th. It would start with the laying of the rocks or scenery, building of the hut or stable, and planting of the ‘nachne seeds’ which would sprout and serve as a lawn. And each morning one would avidly wait to see the seeds sprouting and later turn into a full-fledged green lawn. Then came the 20th and for 3-4 days all the young boys and girls would be out in the night singing Christmas carols, serenading the sick and the old, and those who never had any visitors throughout the year. Says Sidney, a resident of Porvorim, “We would go caroling not only to get into the Christmas spirit and have a good time, but also to reach out to the sick and lonely. Doors would open to us as we approached the gates, and people would bring out to serve us whatever sweets they were preparing, like neureos and kulkuls”. “As a result we would at times get to sample at least 10 different varieties of Christmas sweets in a day” he adds with nostalgia.
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Making of the star was another aspect well looked forward to. Cutting the bamboo to make the star, or simply placing white paper over the wooden framework of the previous year’s star was a task assigned to the skillful folks alone. Nowadays stars come in different sizes, shapes and colours that one loses out on the real significance of the star.
The same can be said with the Christmas tree. The thrill of cutting a pine tree branch, and carrying it all the way home on a cycle or in an open van, squabbles and fun over the decorating aspect, and the putting of the star atop the tree, seems to have all simply vanished. The artificial trees which come in different sizes, decorations, and with coloured or serial lights are certainly no match to the old pine branch.
Yet like the artificial tree and the readymade Christmas cribs and stars, Christmas sweets too are purchased like any other item. No doubt the time and effort that goes into the preparation of the sweets at home is an arduous task as compared to the convenience of buying the same from a shop. However, still preparing sweets at home had its own charm. If a family consisted of 3-4 children , each would be assigned a task to do, for example in making a cake one would beat the eggs, another would sieve the flour, still another would add the raisins while someone would see that the containers for the cake mix were ready. As ovens were rare some 30-40 years back, the only solution was to carry the cakes early in the morning to the nearest baker. No doubt it called for a lot of perseverance and willpower not to eat any of the sweets prior to Christmas. But come Christmas night, and after hearing mass, tins, containers and jars would be opened at home and one would eat to glory all the delicacies which one in his or her own hands had prepared or assisted in preparing.
Christmas has ceased to be celebrated as earlier, as even going for midnight mass is becoming uncommon, with the dances beckoning on Christmas eve itself.
We have to open our hearts and minds to the poor and needy, the sick and the old, and the underprivileged and the lonely. Then only we will experience the true meaning of Christmas and not Xmas which is nowadays referred to. Let’s start by taking little steps in that direction. Let’s have a Christ filled Christmas. Merry Christmas to everyone.
