Christmas
cards and decorations and the visual media create
strong impressions. A television show once did
this so expertly, that when I looked out of
my window I expected to see robins trilling
on snow laden branches and frost sparkling on
the ground. Instead, the badam tree was shedding
its leaves and crows were having a field day.
It set me thinking
of the significance of images - which were universal?
Which did I want to keep?
Christmas, shorn of
it's holly and snowflakes, would still be Christmas
wherever kindness and generosity are practiced.
Here, the tradition upheld by my grandmother
and my own beloved mother ring true. Gran's
thrift resulted in beautiful patchwork bedspreads,
embroidered pillow cases, pin cushions, initialed
handkerchiefs, and marketing bags, jars of homemade
chutney and the most delicious pickles. These
formed gifts for delighted recipients many of
whom would have had no celebrations if it were
not for "Aunty Ellen's" large hearted
invitation to join the family feast.
This
generosity extended beyond material manifestations
to selfless sleepless nights, tending to the
maid's sick child who was brought to our home
from the confines of her tiny 'jhopar', where
her recovery was possible because of Gran's
ministrations.
Though mother and
gran would never make it to the list of the
world's most affluent, they were the two of
the richest people I know. For them Christmas
as a Round-the-Year-Phenomenon, as, like the
Magi, they sought the Babe of Bethlehem and,
like the three Kings, lavished their gifts of
love and thoughtfulness on the poor, the lonely,
the down-at-heel.
If I can cherish this
tradition and implement it in my own life, I
can lay claim to a place among the richest on
Earth and in Heaven too!
Dell
de Souza
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