Deck the halls…

With boughs of folly! Fa la la la la la la la la.

And folly it is indeed. Consider how Christmas is celebrated, on a very general level, not factoring in the special and idiosyncratic customs each family, each community and each country will have. There is snow – of the white cottonwool kind or the real thing; there is Santa – Saint Nicholas, Baba or whoever he may be wherever in the world; there is good food and drink – from turkey and ham to kulkuls and bebinca; there is singing and dancing, loving and giving (and taking), and a full stop to violence, especially in that holiest place of all for the meaning of Christmas: the Middle East, Jerusalem in particular.

And now consider what is going on in our little niche in the whole wide world. There is the usual infighting in politics, with a poor man lynched, battered, dead, just because he did not believe in a certain form of graft. Never mind that Mayawati promised to give the man’s family money. She should have seen to it that he was alive and well, able to work hard and make the money for his future, without any danger to him just because he had principles. There is the eternal battle between reason and madness, with our neighbours just across the border coming up with all sorts of stalls to prove that what happened in Mumbai a month ago was nothing to do with them or their country. They go one step forward, two steps back on whatever statements they make and believe that no one is keeping track, or that it will not matter – working on the seeming ethos that the last said is the only truth. Now they are waving that deadly flag of possible nuclear weapons aimed with lethal purpose at us in India, which we have hastily stated that we thought of some time ago. And the most recent play in the game is that an Indian reportedly was responsible for a bomb blast in a city on the other side of the border. A game of one-upmanship, just because they will not accept facts for what they are and we will not give up blaming them for almost anything that happens to us.

There is more going on here than you would expect. People do not “feel like” celebrating because of the terror attacks. For some reason, the collective conscience says no to any merry making, at least in full public view. What happens behind closed doors is not for the gossip columns to report on. There are still parties and happy events and joyous celebration but this time, after going through gratuitous or actual hell, even the die-hard social set is subdued. A good thing? Who knows. It would, of course, make better sense if they used some of the accumulated outrage, anger and grief to actively do something for those who suffered and lost – maybe help in hospitals, maybe give to the needy more than just money, maybe cooperate with the authorities when safety checks are imposed. I still hear of and see people protesting, objecting to their bags and their cars being checked in public places, be it a shopping mall or a hotel or a cinema or a museum.

So what is the spirit of Christmas? For us, now, from now on perhaps, something that makes life a little better, a little safer, a little happier for those who have little reason to find joy in the season to be jolly. Maybe just a thought would do the trick – from thoughts a whole perennial could grow, who knows, a tree of ideas and initiatives that, next Christmas, could be large and effective and beautiful enough to decorate and show off to the world. Merry Christmas and have a peaceful, happy, healthy and wonder-filled year!