The Christmas makeover

Are Christmas celebrations increasingly about shopping festive gifts in malls, savouring innovative fusion cuisines in hotels, scouting for online bargains and merry making with Santa?

December 24, 2014 07:32 pm | Updated 07:32 pm IST - MADURAI:

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mamp25santa1

A conversation between two Fourth Graders:

First child: Santa may not come with gifts this year. My mummy told me he is upset that so many innocent children were killed by terrorists in Peshawar.

Second child: If there is no Santa, there will be no Christmas!

Indeed, most children grow up believing that Santa brings presents for them during the yuletide season. The iconic image of Santa, the sleek red old school design sleigh, the flying reindeers ferrying Santa’s huge red sack of gifts in the night are some fixed images we have seen in films, books, advertisements, on television, in our school classrooms and now on google doodle.

But by the time children grow up, they understand the jolly old Santa Claus is not real but a fun ritual. Yet Santa dominates Christmas. For years he has been representing a sense of joyfulness and cheer. Santa is the one who, it is believed, listens to Christmas wishes of children. He is the compulsive gift-giver and the idea that you are so loved.

In his modern portly incarnation, the main folkloric symbol of Christmas has become a great entertainer too. His mascot is used everywhere to draw crowd – be it in restaurants and hotel foyers, showrooms and departmental stores, fairs and churches, marketplaces and even on the streets.

The white-bearded Santa is an apt model for creative designers. Every winter Father Christmas gets a new look or comes in a different avatar. May be designer Santa works and that is why we rarely see him with his big red sack now. Instead, he is either a salesman with a designer handbag swinging on his arm or he is talking on the latest cell phone model, working on the laptop, sipping a fizz drink, eating a burger, tapping his feet, singing or playing musical instruments. Santa can do anything. He can be playing football, holding a pistol, wearing boxing gloves, riding a cycle or doing a somersault, he may be reading a book, holding a pipe in his mouth or a child on his lap.

This year Santa has got a high fashion makeover and his sleigh has been upgraded with super gadgets for faster mobility! In contrast, a very down-to-earth Santa even holds a broom, as if to remind people about the swachch campaign. In every conceivable model of Santa, there is nothing religious. In fact, there is less Jesus too.

“The true meaning of Christmas is Christ. But it has become Santa-mas”, writes a collegian on his fb page.

There are people imbued with nostalgia for Christmases in the past. It used to be wrapped up in tiny traditions. And all those who loved, gave and shared made Christmas magic. It was about embodying the whole spirit of the season. Some people still do it.

In Madurai, several families instead of buying gifts for each other have bought lot of new stuff, including clothes, toys, furniture and utensils, for the residents of various old age homes and orphanages in the city. And they want to remain the anonymous Santas. Groups of youths have gone about cutting Christmas cakes with those without families. A city school asked its students to write letters to their parents which will be sent as surprise Christmas gifts to them.

The American College Rotaract Club (ACRC) students visited the juvenile inmates and made their day livelier with a special performance. The students presented a skit, sang Christmas carols, distributed sweets and gifts and before leaving decided to adopt and rehabilitate the 30 inmates. They have now decided to provide for the education of the juveniles, identify their talents, change their mindset and show them the beautiful world waiting for them with a bright future.

There are many more people who would have done many more wonderful things. Such gestures are reminders of the true meaning of Christmas. Despite all that we have lost, let us cherish all that good we still have in us.

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