The Capital basked in Yuletide spirit on Thursday. Christmas trees, green and red decorations and “Santa Clause hats” made an appearance in almost every shopping market, mall, bakery and restaurant.
The “nativity” scene continued to be the centre of attraction in churches across the city, many of whom had organised midnight mass on Wednesday night, as well as regular masses throughout Thursday, most of which were crowded. Some churches even had multiple Hindi and Punjabi services, while some opted for a single simple mass, which was attended by a large number of non-Christians.
“We barely got place to sit at my church, but that is hardly surprising since it is Christmas. As a family, we usually go to church in the morning and then we go home and have our Christmas lunch. We did the same thing this year too,” said Lyn, whose extended family of 20 had come down to the Capital especially for Christmas.
Temperatures hovered between a minimum of 6 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 16 degrees Celsius, and the sun made an appearance for only a few hours. However, cafés, restaurants, street shops and malls and even the old monuments were choc-a-block with people out to make the most of the holiday.
“We got double, almost triple the visitors that we get on a normal day, especially in the height of winter. They were mostly locals who were at many of the monuments and not just the tourists,” said Vasanth Kumar, Delhi Circle officer, Archaeological Survey of India.
Restaurants and bakeries had special lunches, sweets, savouries and cakes themed around Christmas.
“We served turkey, roast duck and thyme marinated chicken along with our desert platter that included a special Christmas pudding,” said one restaurant in Central Delhi.
Many people walking on the streets or riding the metro could be seen in red and white Santa Clause hats having a good time despite the biting cold and the mostly grey skies.
