Christmas Indian Style...

It was not the first Christmas I've spent in India but it is the first one I attempted to make into a Christmas as similar as possible to my childhood experiences in Canada. By now you know I live in a holy town, it is the birth place and playing ground of one of the Hindu Gods, in other words nobody celebrates Christmas, I have never come across a Christian in these parts, I'm told there is a church in the next town over but I've never been to it. That being said it's not like I would have attended church in Canada either, in fact other than stories of Jesus's birth and carols related to it not very much of my Christmas celebration revolved around the religious aspects.

My mother arrived from Canada with my wish list for baking, craft supplies and a few items for the kids stockings and a toy I thought they'd each enjoy which is plenty for a two and three year old yet I found us out searching the local bazaar (market) for more. I desperately wanted more, more stuff to put under the tree. There was nothing! Toys that were of cheap quality, poorly constructed and not worth bartering over, Clothing for children here for winter is not at all like we have back in the west and I had to admit the kids cupboards are already stocked with more than enough great clothes to get them through the few months of cold weather. Not only could I not justify buying crap as if by divine intervention I couldn't even find one item worth purchasing. Except of course these silly Santa masks, which my almost two year old is still scared of.

I had to surrender and let go of the material conditioning that had become my norm for Christmas. In doing so I was able to recall what mattered most to me as a child at Christmas. Yes the presents were nice but I loved the feeling. The love that surrounded everyone and the magic that seemed to be everywhere. In true Christ nature it has always been about giving, so we opted to take a bunch of money in our pockets and walk the street handing it out to those in need. Interestingly we didn't find many people around but our pockets are still lined and each day that we venture out we keep our eyes and hearts open ready to give when needed. We invited the children of the house to come and do holiday art work for decorating our room, we feasted on treats and listened to carols.



I told them the story of Jesus's birth, they told me Jesus spent time in India. Wait. What? Yup many Indians believe that during the decades that were somehow omitted from the bible Jesus actually spent some time here in the far east, in fact there are many books written on the topic which I intend to read.




Watching the joy on my children's faces as they realized Santa had ate the cookies and drank the milk and left presents behind was priceless and the only gift I needed to make my Christmas the most magical ever.

Sharing love and opening ones heart to all of the joy that is this life, everyday, and not just for one commercialized season is what we all need more of in this world, after all "Christmas isn't a season, it's a feeling"