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Young World
Time to make merry
RAJIV. M
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Its Christmas and the celebrations are on!
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Photo: K. Ananthan.
Cake time: Welcome Christmas.
The short crisp days and long chilly nights make Christmas in Hyderabad a season of lights, comfort food and warm clothes. The postman is a welcome visitor, bearing gifts from faraway friends and relatives. This is also the time to travel to native places to celebrate Christmas with extended families and childhood friends. The Christmas star on the roof and the Asoka trees decorated with lights look beautiful in the winter nights. After carols and a prayer, it is time for
snacks and a hot drink. Many make their charitable contributions well in advance of Christmas.
It is a time for shopping to buy new clothes, toys, jewellery, gifts and sweets. The Christmas tree in the drawing room is laden with presents. How about playing ‘chef’ in the family? Buy some flour, eggs, butter, and sugar for baking cakes. Many families make their own traditional sweetmeats in large quantities for Christmas, and some people work through the night to get the cakes done. For Christmas is also a time to lend mom a helping hand.
More cakes
On Christmas Eve, cakes are baked and the warm smell of baking fills the house in the evening. Just before midnight, families set out for the service at the local church. The church, with glittering lights, a log fire crackling in the courtyard, and worshipers decked in their best clothes, is a sight to behold. Christmas is a time of joy and celebration of life, and the hymns and carols and the sermon reflect the joy of the season. It is time to give and receive greetings and gifts.
After the excitement dies down, it is time for cakes and brownies and homemade sweets. It is time for a short prayer and time to reflect on the year drawing to a close, and anticipate with hope the coming year. So what if there is no white Christmas in town, there is a whole lot of warmth and mirth to share. Merry Christmas!
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