Christmas time in Cochin is a very personal experience. One does not find the gloriously decorated Spruce, Pine or Fir trees, or mouth watering Christmas cuisine available in the West only during these times. One also does not find snow covered cars driving around or Gluehwein to keep you warm. In Cochin, one might as well celebrate Christmas on the beach, because the weather hardly varies throughout the year below 25 or above 32 degrees.
But a paper star lit with bulb is found in most houses, including the residences of the Hindus and the Muslims. Kerala is one of the few states in India where Christianity is not a minority, and one that has a strong Catholic History. I often shock people in Berlin or anywhere in the west for that matter, when I introduce myself as Anna Amy Philips, a name that sounds rather British and hardly Indian. But if you’ve been around, you will learn that people in India are also often called Mary, Thomas, Mathew, and even Jesus (Yesudas), among other names such as Priyanka, Saraswathi, Nisha, Prabhakaran, Ali, Abdul, Aesha, and so on. The British did not name us this way; we were Catholic long before that.
A plastic Christmas tree can be definitely found especially at shopping malls, although not decorated with the classic single colour decorations. We Indians appreciate colour, perhaps a little more than we should!
A tree and crib are also definitely found at catholic homes. My mother waits every year for 12.00 midnight on the 24th, so that she can place Baby Jesus in the crib, before she goes to Church for the midnight mass, dragging me behind her. But you will never find gifts under the tree no matter how hard you look. Your gift is that every year you look forward to your very rewarding family get-togethers! As weird as it may sound, I love it that we don’t gift each other. Somehow it makes me feel more personal about it all. We know of a Santa Claus of course, who hangs around certain corners as an entertainment for the children. He always has a bunch of balloons tied to him and rarely if you get lucky, he has a few candies to offer.
Going to church in newly bought clothes is very important, and 27 out of the 28 Christmases and New Year’s eves I have had so far, have been spent inside a church at mid night. People like to thank God a lot back home. Then comes the 25th of December, and the entire family is around. We love to eat and drink together, the Aunts and the Uncles and the Cousins.
So the Christmas dinner is on, everybody is merry and uses the opportunity to catch up with widely travelled Indians, such as myself and my siblings, who are always home for Christmas. And then you hear knocking on the gate, you open the door and you find it is the children! In the USA, children do this during Halloween, ‘trick or treat’ is their motto and they expect us to give them money or candy. In Cochin, Christmas is the only time children do this, and what I love most about these adorable and silly kids is that they carry a large radio around with them (yes, in this century), which they switch on if you let them into your home, they are dressed up like Santa Claus (and not very fat at that! They look more of a coca cola advertisement if it weren’t for the fluffy Christmas hats) and…DANCE! And here is the fun part: it is mostly Bollywood music they dance to. I love it indeed. We always pay them a lot.
Anny Amy Philips ist aus Cochin, Indien. Sie studiert Violine und Musikwissenschaften in Berlin.
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