Column

As readers will no doubt notice, there is a Christmassy feel to this issue of your favourite paper. From stories about Santas to a look at some wonderful city churches to a learned exposition by Cardinal Gracias, we have tried to look at Christmas and the Christian community from different angles. In all probability, other city newspapers have done the same.

Christmas, of course, does not belong to Christians any more. From being a religious festival, it has become one celebrated — with gusto, one might add — by everyone, religion and caste no bar.

Of course, the festivities are less about religious fervourand more about having a good time, but it’s Christmas all the same.

Many of us like to decorate our homes with Christmas trees and little models of nativity scenes, we like to go out and have Christmas meals and take our kids to the malls to get gifts from Santa Claus. Some quaint new traditions have sprung up in offices, including a phenomenon called ‘Secret Santa’ wherein you pick up a chit and buy an anonymous gift for the person whose name comes up. (The boisterous and ribald Christmas office party has not yet taken off, but give it a year or two.)

The Cardinal has expressed his regret at the commercial and material aspect of the festival overtaking the spiritual one, and he may have a point, especially where his own flock is concerned. Christians do turn out for midnight mass in large numbers, but the partying is also an integral part.

But this is not necessarily a problem. The secularisation of Christmas, in a country where there is no end to the refrain that other cultures are casting an evil spell on us, is a strength — both of Indian secularism and of Christianity itself.

India has a long association with Christianity. It is one of the countries where the religion was introduced by one of the apostles, St Thomas, who arrived on these shores in 52 AD.

Since then the religion has spread and taken strong root and every part of the country has some Christian presence or the other.

More than their actual numbers, which barely add up to 2.5 percent of the total population, the Christian influence can be felt in many other ways in India.

Missionary schools can be found in remote North East, moffusil Indian towns and cosmopolitan cities. Generations have passed through the Jesuit or Protestant system and their alumni, whatever their religion, will happily recite the Lord’s Prayer.

Contrary to what the die-hard cultural nationalists and Hindutva wallahs think, this has not turned those who studied in such schools into full-fledged Christians.

At no time was there ever pressure to attend religion classes, nor was any preaching done in the classroom. The success rate of conversions, if indeed that was the objective in Christian schools would be so minuscule as to not even worth considering.

What it did do is to inculcate a certain spirit of enquiry and an ethos. Call it Christian, or whatever, but all across the nation, it is easy to spot someone who has passed through one of those institutions.

Thus, there has always been a ready made base of people who intuitively understand what Christianity is all about. On top of that has come the wave of globalisation which has brought with it high-pressure marketing as well as new international trends.

Christmas is now a major commercial festival everywhere, from Godless China to Islamic Dubai and the whole ‘Santa in a Mall’ number is played out all over in the same way.

A question arises: why has Christmas become universal while other festivals have not taken off in the same way? There are over 150 million Muslims in India, yet, rare is the non-Muslim who celebrates Eid. Muslims complain that friends from other religionss routinely wish them Happy Muharram, which is a travesty.

This is a subject for an entirely different debate, but a few points can be made. Firstly, what everyone celebrates is Christmas in its most commercial form rather than in the religious sense. Just like many non-Muslims love eating fast-breaking food during Ramzan.

Secondly, Christmas helps everyone connect to a global community; when Eid becomes a globally celebrated festival, it will come to India too. Most of all, Christmas gives the feeling of being more inclusive than many other festivals.

In the West, the notion of Christmas has undergone a radical change. Politically correct governments in Christian dominated countries now insist that people must greet each other with Happy Holidays, rather than Merry Christmas. Children are encouraged to learn about other traditions like Kwanza and even other festivals like Diwali.

On this one front at least, the world is becoming more multicultural. Perhaps one day Eid will be celebrated in Italy or Holi in Saudi Arabia. It is a nice feeling that this kind of secular and shall we say, catholic idea is taking root everywhere. Perhaps something is right with this world after all. Merry Christmas.

Email: sidharth01@dnaindia.net