Wednesday, December 19, 2007

auf weidersehen 2007

Xmas is round the corner and this is the only second time in my life I ll be spending time away from home on a Christmas Eve…Nevertheless it is a time which brings lot of pleasant memories…

The best part I loved about Christmas is making the crib which we would industriously do and present em to folks at home gallant about the engineering marvel made of sticks, twigs and hay…Every year we would take Jesus, Joseph and Mary from the cupboard and give a nice polish before we start it all…Sometimes we change Joseph with the latest Joseph available in ‘Chinnu stores’ because he looked less glamorous than last time…Mary is given a fresh coat of paint and Jesus is given decent makeup…I cant really think of something else as satisfying as making a good looking crib...Christmas as a kid fully revolved around the crib. Those days reminds me of cribs we used to make with playing cards and replacing the shepherds with hulk Hogan and undertaker because we thought they were more cool...I often wonder if the lord was born in a 3 BHK house it would have been such a pain to make the crib...Unfortunately now it revolves around Christmas sales and Gluhwein…

The festive time was nice for it promoted a heightened state of ‘spirituality’ among all the uncles and there were plenty of good X’mas special delicacies for us…Most of the time the Christmas eve would be at our native in changancherry where the entire family goes enmass to the nearby church...On the way back my elder cousins would buy us kattan kaapi to beat the night chill…The church program is elaborate on xmas eve as you know. But I usually miss out a good deal due until they burst the crackers at midnight…I remember one particular xmas which turned sour when we four cousins skipped the church prayers and went back to the cars to catch a few winks. We had planned to get back inside the church when the prayers were almost over…Unfortunately that day we just forgot to wake up on time and the solemnity of the day saved our ass.

The festive time also means as escape from the school routine and the all awaited trip to naadu…The anticipation of the trip several days before the actual trip when we boarded the vanchinad express are cherished memories...It would be the time when Ammachi would ensure that we did kumbasaram(confession) before the Christmas eve ..I still remember confessing to one particular priest...”njan ammayude bagil ninnu mottayi kattu eduthu”(I stole a candy from Mom’s bag)..And the priest misunderstood it for egg...and he advised in typical priest like demeanor...”motta ellavarkkum vendi ollathu alle”…maybe the innocence of being a kid didn’t make me ROTFL in the confession box…Not as bad as these days when the confessions I make can cause the priest to abandon clergy out of sheer desperation...

It was also interesting that when uncles used to get together for the Christmas special military rum…and when we kids used to lurk around the corner to relish the beef fry ‘touchings’ there would be someone who anticipated the hidden intentions and give us a teaspoon of rum…There would be someone who might be celebrating the breaking of noyambu (lent) on that day with a mid night peg...Little pleasures and little satisfactions were all that mattered those times..

I can’t stop wondering how things have changed now…I can’t anticipate the gifts anymore…I have unfortunately become the gifter…I can’t anticipate the Christmas cards from abroad and save those stamps…

Christmas for me is all about sharing joys and meeting up…Almost all Christmas we end up talking about the last Christmas before...Amma would say the Appam came of better than last time...There is a feeling of time passing by which sort of hit you as the new year is round the corner as well…I love the last 5 days of the year…though they say resolutions can be made any day, I feel there is still much more motivation to make one on a new year eve than any other day…This time I would love to get my parents in here for the summer...In this race I find it difficult to choose the resolution than actually doing it…Probably I should stick to easier ones like “I ll shave at least twice a week” or like ‘learn Deutsch”..


Since I would be on holiday from next week this might be the last post of the year…Till then AstaLaVista amigos...
Christmas greetings to all and have a great year ahead!!

28 comments:

Mishmash ! said...

Be glad that you did that Four cousins' lil adventure that day, so u have good memories to relive on now.. :) A good story Mathew apooppa can tell his grandkids :P :D

Merry X'mas and Happy Holidays! Have LOTS of fun and food :)

Shn

Rupinion said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rupinion said...

Could relate to each and every line written. Sadly, my first x'mas away from home, and you have written the post verbatim , of all things that I had in my mind :).
Merry Christmas! :)

Still Searching said...

When I was growing up, Xmas eve we used to go to my Dad's factory and celebrate with the workers there... they were lots of families there (incidentally from Kerela), and the ladies would make the crib, decorate beautifully and also make home-made red wine.. was the only time I was allowed to drink "alcohol"! Used to be fun! This year is the first time I've decorated a Xmas tree, and its fun too!

Will miss your posts for the rest of the year.. Happy Holidays and a very happy new year!

silverine said...

I wanted to write something on the same theme, but am too much in a festive mood to blog now.So maybe after I get back...

Lovely memories,nothing like Xmas during childhood. The magic of Christmas was something else then!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!! :)

Anphy said...

:)
X'mas for sure evokes pleasant memories.
"noyambu murikkal"(not the liquid variety though) is my favourite.
Missed last year's X'mas but all set to go ds year

amna said...

merry xmas and a wonderful new year to you!

ദീപു : sandeep said...

Merry Christmas and Happy newyear to you too...

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

:) , Hi Hi and you are not supposed to reveal what you confess on the blog :-D whether stealing Mutta or Muttai :-D . Wish you a Merry Xmas and a prosperous New Year :D

VIDYA said...

:) :) merrry chrismas mathew!!! and do celebrate with loadsa mottas! :-d oops mutayis

eljo said...

Have loads of fun! Your Christmas memories sound eerily similar to hubby's memories. Could be coz he’s also a kottayamkaran :-) There’s something magical about childhood memories. Makes you all warm and nice. To set the record straight the name is Eljo. Now I have to go & hide all the unique stuff before sis comes calling ;-) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Dhanya said...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to you as well :)

Unknown said...

Merry xmas and a happy new year mr mathai

Vadapoche said...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

ap said...

Wishing you a very Happy Xmas and a great year ahead....

Summer time I was also planning to bring my parents here :)

Emmanuel said...

you are not supposed to share the confession secrets (i mean whatever the priest has told u!)..... ;) just kidding...... :)

nice write-up.....sweet memories.... :)

Wishing you a joyous Christmas and a wonderful year ahead.... :)

anN-series said...

The priest got a coughing fit & stared straight at me wen i told him my last confession was '4 yrs ago', even then my sins were over in a minute! (St. Ann in the making). vowed never to confess again.

Merry Christams and Happy New Year!!

Alexis said...

Wishing you a merry Xmas and a happy 2008.

Nanditha Prabhu said...

merry Christmas and a wonderful new year!!!

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas And advance New Year Wishes :)

Sreejith Panickar said...

Great christmas and new year sir!

J said...

Merry Xmas to you Mathew!

mathew said...

@all
thank a lot..wish you all the same..hope you are having a gala time..

am on a holiday..and now enjoying the pleasant weather of granada..:-)

Zee said...

i love the last 5 days of the yr as well.....in school we'd wait for the stable/crib to be put up in front of the church and there was just so much excitement around it! even though there was no innovation year on year, we would still run and huddle around it every single yr and admire , if nothing, just the hay!!!!
merry christmas!

Anonymous said...

good fun, reading your posts. its been long since i came across a really enjoyable blog!

neermathalam said...

hsppy new year..!!!

Sridevi said...

christmas for me was signing in the school choir... was awesome fun!

Merry christmas Mathew apooppa!

Mishmash ! said...

Signore....Wishing you a beautiful year ahead....with lots & lots of fun and happiness....and do write a lot and make us laugh :)

Shn