TALLULAH D’SILVA
We have all celebrated Christmas with so much extravagance, don’t you think? Family gatherings, parties with friends, social media and all outings are a testimony to the grandeur and richness of each of our experiences this year. We bought new clothes, new shoes and stitched new suits. We also got our hair coloured, styled differently, following perhaps the latest trend. This time, we also spent a lot of money on home décor, a new Christmas tree, not one but many new stars, and more decorative lights. There were more gifts this time for everyone and more extravagance in the variety of food made on Christmas Day. And we still felt that there was more that needed to be done because the neighbour or friend seemed to have a better tree, a better star, more lights, better clothes and better hair colour!
As children, can we recall what Christmas looked like back then? Perhaps there was less of all this. Maybe because back then, we were truly satisfied with the little we had. And maybe back then, there was no social media to show it all.
Did you look at the crib you made? The setting of Jesus’ birth is the same every year. The cowshed is made of bamboo and thatch. The manger is the same old rustic wooden one. It is ironic that in this very visual, abject simplicity, the world around is busy running after all the material paraphernalia of Christmas.
What is Christmas, really? I asked this question to my catechism students last Sunday. At first, they all responded by saying Christmas is dressing up the tree, receiving gifts, getting new clothes, having a feast, decorating the house, sharing gifts with family, etc, and that all these made Christmas what it is today. Then, after some reflection, they talked about the celebration of Jesus’ birthday and what it meant to them. Some said that Jesus was like a parent to them, some said He was a brother and others said that Jesus was like a friend. Is this really true, because nobody has ever seen Jesus? And what if Jesus was around us?
He could be the newspaperwala who drops off the newspaper in the morning; he could be the milkman; he could be the vegetable vendor on the old cycle; he could be the poder bringing in the hot bread; he could be among the group of women who sweep our streets clean; he could be the person who collects our garbage! Do we really know who all these people are in our lives? Do we know their families and what their circumstances are in their own homes? Do they even have a home? They could be having little or nothing. To us, they have become invisible while they serve us every day. Because of them, we are able to work more, earn more and do better in our lives. Did we partake in any of the extravagances of Christmas with them?
We reflected that we had missed the most important part of the Christmas celebration and that we had forgotten Jesus in a way. We remedied this by writing letters to each of the invisible Jesuses in our lives. We wrote letters of appreciation thanking each of these invisible persons in our lives who work hard to help us so that we may do better and prosper.
We did the same exercise with our team at work, after we had selected our Secret Santa and had made handmade gifts for each of them. The gifts were special homemade chocolate fudge, a potted plant, a cloth bag, an orange kit, a key chain, hand-bound nature journals made from wasted paper. Each one had also made a special dish — apple pancakes, pulao, corn cheese sandwiches, sabudana wadas, puran polis, bombil molho, rice kheer! All gestures of love, caring and belonging.
We reflected on how many individuals had been left out because there was nobody thinking about them — our own support staff, those in our immediate neighbourhood who were homeless, beggars, orphans, abandoned people, those rejected who have nobody to care about or comfort them, and those who were hungry and had no meal in sight. We pledged that we would be conscious and try to reach out to those who had nobody this Christmas season — even abandoned pets and stray animals.
After a potluck lunch, we were about to sing carols but had to re-plan as we had a scheduled meeting. This seemed like a blessing in disguise because as soon as it was evening, we thought, why not step outdoors with the guitar in tow and go to a village corner or a tinto to sing carols?
We went to one of our favourite locations, the Curca bridge, and met a local fisher, Gabriel Fernandes. He is often camping by the roadside, keeping a close check on his nets and straying crabs! He is such a hardworking fellow and very friendly to people who inquire about fishing. He was so happy to see us. He checked all his crab nets (cobllem) immersed in the Siridao creek parallel to the bridge railing, collected his fresh catch of crabs and gleefully gave them to us. We were overwhelmed to experience this benevolence. We surrounded Gabriel and sang carols while the other local fishers looked on, smiling away as Gabriel began swaying to the tune. Jesus had found us in the most unlikely of circumstances…
(Tallulah D’Silva is an architect and Silver Awardee of the Golden Door
Award 2020 for truth and integrity.)
