Christmas Celebration - Childhood Memories

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Everyone has a childhood memory. And he or she may become so much emotions. Far from the town, in the villages, in the midst of the forests, celebrating Christmas has its uniqueness. We would not see the splendor of the glittering decorations. We used to break the branches of bamboo tree and make the Christmas stars. We used to cover it with colorful tissue paper. We used to make two stars. One we would take it to the Parish to win the prize and the other one we used to hang it over the tree. . We used to make the crib. But we did not have the statues, nor the toys, so we designed the figures of the shepherds, sheep camel cow etc. Then some ten days before we would sow the paddy or the green serials for in our hot region we could not find green grass. Then we would decorate a tree too. The elder brother or the elder sister had the leadership and we used to obey. All the neighboring children would come to see. We had a healthy competition and genuine fun. Parents would buy some sweets and some we would make at home. It was strenuous because till 24th of December we had semestral exams. But on the eve of Christmas Mummy would prepare a basket of Christmas sweets and fruits. Then we go to the neighboring homes, and to our relatives to distribute them This was the Christmas gift to the friends, relatives and neighbors. Parents used to stitch elegant new dress. That time there weren’t any readymade dresses. While the Parents used to prepare for Christmas supper and the next day’s lunch too, we would prepare the Christmas songs and carols. Then followed the famous supper. After the supper we loved to wear our new dress, new sandals. Then we would gather in groups and march to the Church. Today I smile. We did not have battery torches nor automatic torches. Some used to take gas light and most of us did not have gas light. We used to gather the sheaves of dry coconut leaves and tie a clothe soaked with chimney oil. Oh it was such a fun to march to the Church. The Parents would accompany with their similar age and we children together. We had to walk always ahead of our parents. It was such an amazing scene to reach the Church. To see the Church fully enlightened, the lines of lit stars, the huge Christmas Tree, and then the Christmas Crib, we used to thrill with joy. We really loved the Christmas Mass and singing, even though sometimes we dozed with sleep. The Priest used to bring Baby Jesus and lay in the crib. We used to enjoy to see the babe, while our parents devotedly prayed and helped us repeat their prayers. We enjoyed to see the crackers flying then we returned home in groups doing a lot of recreation. It was really entertaining.