Considering that my entire schooling has been in Christian Schools, it’s no surprise that I am familiar with Christ and Christmas. I started at maybe 3 or 4, reading at Auckland House, Shimla and for want of anything better to do, I would often toddle off to the nearby Bible Society Office, where I would sit and look at their fliers, often taking them home, and would read stories from the Bible. They were written in simple language, often with illustrations and I found them very interesting. A year later, when we moved to NDA Khadakvasla, and I was being interviewed for admission to the NDA School, my knowledge of these Bible Stories suitably impressed the teachers and enabled me get admission to Std. IV instead of Std. III, which I was otherwise eligible for by age.
Two years later, when I was 9, NDA School closed for the senior classes and we all moved to the newly opened Loyola High School, a school run by the Society of Jesus. While there was absolute freedom to practice one’s own religion, I realised I knew more about Christ than most classmates and probably more about this religion than my own. Even today, I still recite Eternal God and Our Father when I pray in front of my Hindu Gods every morning. These prayers which we recited at the Morning Assembly are drilled deep into my me and automatically come to mind at prayer time. The abundant availability of Christian Literature in easily readable form, in the form of parables and stories together with a child’s curiosity to learn more made me learn as much as possible. Perhaps it was just trivia, or maybe it was General Knowledge but then how many people know the names of all the days leading from Palm Sunday to Easter Monday with Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday in between. Well I still do.
Of course the highlight festival of the year was invariably Christmas. At school, activities leading to Christmas would begin when huge cartons of used Christmas Cards, discarded as Raddi in Europe and America would land up. Volunteers like me (who had little interest in sports or athletics) would assign themselves the task of opening them and sorting them. The completely damaged ones were discarded, but a very large percentage were in good shape. Some were completely new, but most would obviously have been used by whoever bought them in the first place and would have their messages written inside. These cards would be salvaged by retaining just the outside folded portion of the card, carefully removing the inside portion. The school would have a local printing press print a generic greetings message on good quality white paper, suitably folded, and we would glue this into the inside of the card. The card would be trimmed using a guillotine shear, suitable sized envelopes would be bought and so voila – we had a brand new recycled greeting card. Our next assignment would be to sell these cards to our parents, their friends, neighbors, whoever at prices of about 50p. What was most amazing was that there was no account of what you sold and how much you collected. You just deposited the amount with one of the Fathers and collected a new box. The school trusted you completely not to steal God’s money and I don’t think it even occurred to any of us to do that.
After school, and while at IIT, Christmas time was usually a vacation period and we would be spending time with our parents or grandparents. In our 4th & 5th Years, there were assignments which needed to be done and this Christmas break was the time to catch up on them without other pressures. These were also fun days because we could actually relax to some extent without the pressure of academics but with the freedom of campus life. It was during our 5th Year in 1972 that the first 5-day long Mood Indigo Pan-IIT Festival was held at IIT Powai during the Christmas-New Year period, and we were a part of it, helping where we could. What a fest it was ! Mood Indigo is now an annual feature since the last 50 years.
When we moved to Nigeria, Lagos being predominantly Christian, Christmas was a very big thing. People got their X’mas Bonuses around this time just as people in India got theirs during Diwali. In keeping with the rest of the western world, this period was also a boom period for businesses, especially for consumer-oriented businesses like ours. A lot of planning went into ensuring that we were well stocked and into ensuring that our retailers were not running short. No opportunities were to be missed. The period from Christmas Day to the first Monday of the New Year was also a long break for most businesses. Being wholesalers, our warehouses would be closed too. Many of our friends would use this period to make short trips to Kenya or South Africa, or even Europe for a break. Karan would usually take off to spend the break in London or in Bombay. It was a family tradition for them to all get together wherever in the world they may be otherwise located.
For us too, it was a time when we along with friends would want to plan local overnight trips to travel around Nigeria. But there would always be a Damocles’ Sword hanging over our heads. Karan would insist that between Ashok and me, at least one of us should always be in town in case of any emergency. Since Ashok and I had more or less a common circle of friends this was like a spanner in the works. Still, we did manage a few such trips and Mohit, Amitash, Rajat, Amit, who were also all together in school, used to enjoy.
When we moved to Ghana, things changed even more. In Nigeria we were wholesalers and could stay closed during the Christmas break, partaking in the celebrations like ordinary people. In Ghana we operated multiple high-end retail outlets and it was our responsibility to ensure that we were easily available to our customers. 
Like everywhere else, Ghanaians too are last minute shoppers and the maximum crowds would be on Christmas Eve. So instead of being closed, we would end up working extended hours to be able to attend to them. But we no longer found this a tedium, like we did in Nigeria. We rather enjoyed this hustle-bustle. it was a happy festive atmosphere all through – In-store promotions, celebrities and VIPs (including His Exellency the President, several Hon. Ministers, Members of Parliament, their families, etc.) shopping at our stores, the staff too all dressed in Christmas Gear equally enthusiastic and sparing no efforts. In fact, as Ghanaians they would recognize more people than we would and would often call me out to personally meet some VIP or other. Then of course, the special Christmas Day Bonus which we had introduced brought even more joy to them. It was a small way of saying Thank You to all of them for their efforts. Suffice it to say that our record sales were adequate proof of this and a source of great satisfaction to us.
Now back in India, Mohit and Viveka and her family celebrate Christmas religiously and joyously. This festival is as important for them as Diwali is for us and we can understand that. We wish them on Christmas just as they wish us for Diwali.
Other than that, the only other exciting X’mas day event is the birthday of one of my cousins, so we don’t forget that easily.
Ahh… memories are made of this