Let us pair a good cause with all our festivals

The participants will learn to make a wide range of Christmas decorations

This paper had a report about a Christmas collaboration between the BMC and a business house. The association resulted in a big Santa hat installed on top of a tree with Christmas decorations at Bandra's Carter Road promenade. The message was that Nature is the real Santa. The selfie spot has been designed to make people think about how they, as ordinary citizens, can participate in preserving nature, or saving Mother Earth.

The campaign was aimed at GenNext, for whom Instagram is the canvas and social media the lingo. Click it, post it, think about it and participate in it seems to be the direction the civic authorities were gently guiding people towards with this campaign.

The festive season has also seen other green initiatives planned, with outfits like Mission Green Mumbai encouraging people to visit a garden on Christmas, participate in nature painting. A number of nonprofits give the underprivileged gifts and games for Christmas.

It is time to pair a cause with a festival so that the celebration becomes meaningful and contributes towards society. We see several causes associated with the Ganpati festivals, where pandal organisers incorporate a theme like saluting frontline warriors, girl child education and such, to bring home an uplifting message. This is a win-win situation, as it piques the interest of people, awakens a certain demographic and drives home an uplifting, useful message.

Let us leverage the power of a ready audience in these ways to bring about change in mindset. We marry both objectives, that of worship and celebration and a cause to bring about a change. If a green Christmas celebration, for instance, marked in different spots in the city can spur even a couple of citizens to work for the environment, it is mission accomplished.