Christmas is related to giving gifts. The practice of giving gifts, which goes back to the 15th century, contributed to the view that Christmas was a secular holiday focused on family and friends. 

Cities like Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai are home to thousands of Roman Catholics. Therefore, midnight mass is considered to be an important part of the grand Christmas celebration in India. All the family members get together and walk to the church for the mass. After the midnight mass a big Christmas feast of wonderful delicacies is consumed by the participants of the mass. The midnight mass comes to an end after the beautifully-wrapped gifts are exchanged. Christmas celebration adds beauty to the cities because every church is generously decorated with Christmas adornments like Christmas star, lot of flowers, aromatic candles, and glittering lights.  Christmas brings ecstasy in the surroundings with twinkling lightning, traditional tree décor, and Christmas songs playing non-stop.

In Christian households, preparations for Christmas begin at least a month in advance. People get their homes whitewashed and indulge in spring cleaning of the house to give it a fresh new look and then decorate the Christmas tree and decorate the ‘crib’ which symbolizes birth of Jesus.  Christmas Crib exhibits figures of baby Jesus, Mother Mary, Joseph, angels kings and so on. You’ll always find a star in every Christian home you visit as it represents birth of Jesus. It holds a very special meaning for them.

Unity in Diversity: In South India, Christians light big earthen lamp on their roofs to symbolize that Jesus is the light of the world. In north-west India, the Christians narrate the Christmas story and sing melodious carols in their own dialects. In south-west India devotees go on a fast from the 1st December until the midnight mass service on 24th December. 

Goa because of its sizeable Roman Catholic population, and also due to the Portugal influence, follows many western traditions. The locals add sparkle to the area by beautifying the churches, streets, market areas, and houses with dolled up Christmas trees, hanging star-shaped lanterns and going around the neighbourhood singing traditional carols. The most famous traditional treat, second to the sumptuous fruit cake, is ‘nevaries’ that resemble small pastries stuffed with dry fruits and coconut. Another famous sweet is ‘dodol’ which is like a toffee that has a perfect blend of cashew and coconut. On Christmas Eve, families host parties and feasts. Traditional Christmas dinner with roast turkey or chicken and drinks are highlight of the feast. People head to church for the midnight mass service where the church bells are rung to announces the arrival of the Christmas Day. Possibly Goa is the best place to celebrate Christmas in India.

In North-East India especially Meghalaya has a considerable population of Christians who celebrate the birth anniversary of Christ with pomp and splendour. During Christmas the North-East Indian cities looks most picturesque. The streets, the churches and the homes are decorated with beautiful lights and one can easily feel the excitement in the air. The Churches see huge crowds with bands playing soulful gospel music. The beauty of the region, its food and the general excitement for Christmas makes being here a memorable experience.

Kolkata which had a colonial stronghold during British regime has a very strange relationship with Christmas. Even though there aren’t many Christians in the city leaving out the Anglo-Indian community, Kolkata is a place in India where Christmas celebration is like its own festival. The churches are decorated, the streets are lit up and people of all ages go out for shopping. For many though Christmas means the delicious cakes and the bakeries in town are usually overflowing with customers during Christmas.

In north-west India, the tribal Christians of the Bhil folk, go out night after night for a week at Christmas to sing their own carols the whole night through. They go to surrounding villages singing to people and telling the Christmas story.

In Daman and Diu, the festival has a different charm and is celebrated with a Portuguese flavour. A big variety of cultural shows are organised.  Visitors can see Corrindinho Portuguese folk dance by the residents. Vibrant lamps brighten the night sky. In fact, Daman and Diu are the best places to spend Christmas celebrations.

Pondicherry is known as the French town of India, which is quiet and serene due to it facing the blue Bay of Bengal. This city is unique in its architectural character and a remarkably well-preserved heritage. During Christmas, this town lights up with bright decorations and the festive atmosphere of Christmas. The beautiful ancient architecture, beautiful beaches, and the quintessential French cuisine make it a favourite place to celebrate Christmas.

Finally, the message of Christmas is about hope, sharing, love and it is also about good deeds. God helps those who believe in helping others.

Diwali is one of the most auspicious festivals in India; it’s a festival of lights. Diwali has a unique charm of its own; it is known as festival of prosperity. People start preparing for the celebrations well before the start of the festive season. They clean, pain, decorate their homes and prepare exotic dishes to be distributed among the loved ones. The celebration begins with shopping, buying gifts for distribution. It is difficult to imagine celebrating Diwali without thinking about giving or receiving Gifts. Gifting is a major part of the celebration.

In India, Diwali celebration is a time for the corporate to distribute gifts; from micro, small, medium to big corporate houses all believe in gifting their employees, suppliers, consultants, bankers, channel partners etc. It is one of the best times to reward the employees for all their hard work throughout the year: employees get their bonus, this is a very old method of rewarding the employees.

The rich and the poor all celebrate the festival in their own way. One can add a personal touch and, unique ideas while gifting in Diwali. People give gifts because it helps in strengthening relationship; the gifts are a wonderful way to express affection. For some gifting is a way to celebrate the festival, while for others it is a special occasion to let family and friends know that the giver cares for them. In short, people give gifts as a way of showing thoughtfulness, love and affection. When we give gifts, it brings joy or pleasure to the receiver. In addition, giving gifts is something which usually makes us feels good. When shopping for gifts it does not matter whether the gift is small or big, expensive of cheap, the value in terms of love is beyond measure.

Gifting is an art. It shows the gracefulness of the giver and the receiver as well. Giving a handmade gifts indicates that one is willing to put in the time and efforts for the loved ones. It’s just not crafts or painting which can be given as gifts in this category it can also be homemade chocolates and cakes, self-knitted scarves and more. Gifting handicrafts and items from cottage industry shows how much one cares for the artisans and micro industry workers.  I believe people enjoy gifting because they reaps the biggest psychological gains from a gift. The act of giving helps to think of others. When we think of others and put them ahead of ourselves, we reduce our thoughts about ourselves and thereby resting our ego a little bit. Similarly, when we accept gifts with genuine gratitude irrespective of whether we like it or not, we reduce thoughts about ourselves and thereby our ego. This is a spiritual benefit of giving and receiving gifts.

Gifts are given to mark milestones, and Diwali is one of the most auspicious occasion. Diwali also marks the end of harvest season of the year.  This is the time, farmers measure their harvest from their crops. Farmers gratify the mother earth for the plentiful bounty of the year gone by, and hence they share their happiness with everybody else. In fact this is one important reason why they exchange gifts and sweets.

That said this is not the only reason why we gift sweets. Diwali also means start of a new year. It also marks the beginning of a new farming, starting a new year of business. We welcome New Year by firing crackers, wearing new clothes, visiting temples, visiting the friends and relatives and exchanging sweets and gifts.

Wishing a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year to all regular and wonderful readers on my blog!!!

There are different opinions on whether or not to celebrate birthdays. The Wikipedia defines it as a day that comes once a year when a person celebrates the anniversary of his or her birth. It has a reason for celebration as it gives you an opportunity to reflect on your life’s journey every year on the day you were born.

As per some research done on this topic by some scholars, in ancient Egypt, when pharaohs were crowned they were considered to have transformed into gods. It seems the Egyptians used to celebrate the coronation date of promoting of pharaohs with pomp and shows; this was given much more important than their birth into the world. Scholars have noted this in Bible’s reference as the earliest known mention of birthday celebration.

In another mention, the Greeks used to offer moon-shaped cakes to Artemis – the lunar Goddess as a form of tribute to her. By paying respect Artemis the Greeks used to feel that they could energize the glow of the moon also. It seems the Greeks lit candles and put them on cakes for a radiant effect. The Greeks most likely took the idea of birthday celebration from the Egyptians, since just like the celebration of the pharaohs as Gods; the Greeks were celebrating birthday of their goddesses. So friends’ birthdays were celebrated even in the ancient times, though with a difference.

Your birthday represents completion of another year of your life. A birthday party is celebration of life that you have enjoyed and lived through. Your birthday represents how far you have come. It is good to be thankful to your parents, family and friends for what you have in life and what you have accomplished. You should celebrate the achievements you have added to your being. It’s a way of appreciating the fruits of life. It is a window to the chance of a lifetime, the chance to fulfill your unique mission. So a birthday is a momentous occasion, to be celebrated just as an organization’s birthday, a nation’s birthday, an event’s yearly celebration and a fête as a ceremony.

I think it is much more than an occasion of receiving gifts. On a larger canvas, it is a chance to remember the day that a major event occurred, to celebrate and give thanks to the Almighty and to reflect upon how well we are fulfilling our calling.

When people give you cards, gifts and parties, it’s their way of saying that they enjoy your existence and because of you the world is a better place to live. The very existence of human, organizations, nations, events are made up of moments and changes in their lifespan. The lifecycle goes through so many changes.  In his book From Beginning to End: The Rituals of Our Lives, Robert Fulghum says that rituals are timed by beats of the heart, not ticks of the clock. So, birthdays are the milestones of a life. You should enjoy because your heart ticks, you should enjoy for the experience added to your life. And, enjoy it for an extension of life.