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It's always been about peace, joy and unending love
Updated On: 24 December, 2009 09:46 AM IST | | L Romal M Singh
Christmas is as much a part of Bangalore as the name Bangalore in itself, but the festival has changed immensely over the last few years. The Guide speaks to three generations of a family loyal to the city over several decades and finds out what the festival means to them
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Christmas is as much a part of Bangalore as the name Bangalore in itself, but the festival has changed immensely over the last few years. The Guide speaks to three generations of a family loyal to the city over severalu00a0decades and finds out what the festival means to them
The Gnanakans are a family as old as several areas in the city. They are also one of the first few families to move into the Koramangala area. Koramangala was then on the outskirts of the city and the Gnanakans have celebrated many a Christmas in their charming house close by Jyothi Nivas college.
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The Gnanakans: Anupa, Christobelle and Santosh (top), Tabeah, Uncle Ken, Jada, Tara, Aunty Prema and Keyah (bottom), [left to right] Pic/ Satish Badiger |
The house has seen many changes but the warmth of the green foliaged home has always remained the same. We decided to visit the family a few days before Christmas and get them to tell us what this bright yet wintry festival means to them.
Different perspectives over the generations quite clearly showed us how the city has evolved, but the most interesting parts were the reminisces. Here are some of the fun stories of growing up with Christmas that they shared with us.
Ken Gnanakan, grandfather
When I was growing up in Bangalore, the city was gradually getting away from the old British ways of celebrating the festival. The Christian community was consciously trying to celebrate more Indian Christmases, the food styles were changing and it was a period where you would see Indian sweets and dishes taking over from the wine and plum cake regulars. So my childhood saw a very desi Christmas, where thindi's (as the snacks are called in Kannada) were in fashion.
More recently however, I've seen a return to the old British customs. Almost like present day India wants to look back at the British era and be influenced all over again. For example, when I was growing up, it was only a group of very select people, probably with western leanings, who knew about turkey. The rest of us knew that people ate the bird, but always connected it to the west and their culture.
Now, however, due to several reasons, globalization being the foremost, such previously 'foreign' practices are now as Indian as they could possibly be. I think the new generation prefers this new way of celebrating too, as it's the 'in' thing to be American or European all over again.
The only problem I have however is that Christmases across the world are losing their local charm.
It's funny to see how similar the festival is all across the world these days. We could blame the Chinese for that though (laughs). They've single handedly taken over the whole Christmas du00e9cor business. But then again, the music seems to be the same the world over too, so we can't really blame them completely, can we?
To summarize, I think I've seen Christmas change from a more Indian festival into a more global one today.u00a0
Another problem that we're seeing, is the rise of the fundamentalist. People are afraid to say what they really want to say, even during a festival. Rowdy elements seem to be at their peak today, so one can't really blame the police for clamping down on parties.
Once upon a time, we used to get back home really late during this season. 2 am was early and carol singing went on all night and into the early mornings. Everything seems to have changed.
Malls seem to make it look very nice with all the big displays, which is fine, but what's scary is the loss of tradition, the loss of what Christmas used to be, the loss of the Indian Christmas. Santa Claus seems to have taken over the imagination of everyone, but what he actually stands for has been lost in the popularity bargain. The actual message of the birth of Christ seems to have been forgotten, sadly.
Ken's Christmas message: The real message of Christmas is to take the love of God through Jesus to the world.
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