Where love is...

This season always seems to be filled with so much.

So much...

…food

…laughter

…singing

…outings

…dishwashing

And of course, it is filled with the opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

I realize that this year is the first time in 25 that I haven’t been close to my family in the time surrounding the 25^th of December. One Christmas, on a flight home to PEI, I met a pilot who was going to be flying on the 25^th. I asked him if he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to spend Christmas with his family, and he explained that the 25^th was just a date on a calendar and that the spirit of Christmas, the true intention of the season could be celebrated any time. So, perhaps it’s possible to have many Christmases throughout the year.

Bangalore itself (and Asha Niketan Bangalore specifically) is diverse in its population, and therefore we have the opportunity to celebrate all of the holidays and festivals. Earlier in the month we ate Chicken Biryani for three days straight as we celebrated the Muslim festival of Bakrid, there was a Hindu festival a couple of weeks ago that lit up the temple next door, and (although not as elaborately as in North America) Christmas decorations have slowly been showing up around the city.

Our celebrations at Asha Niketan have been simple, but quite rich. In what seems like true Indian fashion, we began our preparations for our Christmas Pageant on the morning of the 24^th. Ashita, Aramuda, Akash, Chikku, Kanaka and I were responsible for costumes,

and Sonya and I rehearsed with the dance group. At 6pm that evening we welcomed family and friends for the story. There was something quite beautiful about the time together. Everyone was invited to be a part of the story, so we weren’t actually performing, but living the Christmas story together. There were some musical interludes and a couple of dance breaks that made the evening quite festive. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Kannada (that’s the state language) carols is non-existent, so we settled with English.

Everyone joined us for supper afterwards, and although it wasn’t turkey and stuffing – the paneer and rice were quite tasty!

On Christmas day our breakfast and lunch were gifted to us, and then Santa Claus and his elf (Nyem and Sciub) arrived and handed out presents. I received a lovely cd that was recorded by Aramuda’s family.

The next few days will be filled with outings to visit friends, and I imagine, a neverending stream of cake!

Christmas this year has been filled with many things – great gifts of developing friendships, sharing in new traditions, a sense of loneliness for all that is familiar, a desire for a deeper understanding of what we are living together, overwhelming feelings of gratitude to all who called or sent emails from home.

During our prayer on Christmas evening, Katharine (our community leader) invited us to look back over the past year and consider all of the times when we knew we were loved. I was filled with an overwhelming sense of joy as I was able to reflect and give thanks for all of the people who have offered me love in the past year.

May this Christmas season be a time of good company, good food, uproarious laughter, and abundant love.

Love from India
Haley