This year, we will be spending Christmas in India with my parents and brother who arrive in Mumbai on Monday. It has only recently dawned on me that Christmas is coming for the following reasons:
1) The temperature (although it is winter here) still approaches 30 degrees with consistent beautiful sunshine.
2) The last month has not been packed with Christmas parties / drinks / dinners leaving me feeling like I've had more than enough Christmas-related indulgence before 25 December has arrived.
3) There are no Christmas advertisements on the television!
Given that less than 5% of India's population is Christian, Christmas is not nearly as an important a festival in India as in the UK. Saying that, India's Christian population is concentrated on the west coast (Goa, Kerala) and we live in Bandra, the base for Mumbai's Catholic residents, which has several big churches and Christian schools. On top of that, Mumbai is strongly influenced by Western culture so many people are more than happy to enjoy Christmas festivities, irrespective of the underlying meaning of the festival.
So here is how we have prepared for Christmas.
1) Christmas tree
When leaving the UK in June, we didn't pack our artificial tree as (i) we initially thought we would go back to the UK in Year 1; and (ii) we didn't know how much space we would have in India, so packing a Christmas tree and a big box of decorations seemed a bit gratuitous.
Last weekend, when Phil was still away in the UK, I set it as my challenge to find a real tree in Mumbai. I'd spoken to others who have managed this, so thought that this task would be straightforward, but Sagar and I unfortunately failed to find any of the garden centres that they'd described to me (not on the map...). We trawled around for ages, including visiting several artificial tree shops (Sagar was keen, me less so) before finishing the day at a little plant shop close to our apartment. I was completely fed up by this point but the enthusiastic shop owner pointed to a bunch of ferny-looking branches which he claimed was a Christmas tree, so I went with it.
Admittedly, now the tree is at home and insitu, it is clear that it is more of a plant than a tree. In fact, it is definitely not a tree. Nevertheless, we have festooned it with lights, baubles and tinsel and it does the job. I'm not sure that I'm ever going to be allowed to take charge of Christmas tree purchase again though!
2) Decorations
Phil brought back a bag of decorations from the UK (kindly donated by Phil's parents) and we found some cheap tinsel in one of the many tacky Christmas decoration stalls nearby. The highlight for me though is a set of six decorations that I found in my new favourite shop (Good Earth) which are metal Indian style flat baubles in the shape of lions, elephants and peacocks. They are lovely.
Good Earth has beautiful products but at western prices. I will try to treat myself sparingly.
3) Presents and cards
This has been extremely calm and lacking in stress this year. We bought presents for Phil's family early so that we could take these to the UK in October, and Phil completed the shopping and wrapping whilst in the UK last week. My family are easy. I've booked to take my mum for a fancy massage (completely with sauna, steam room etc) on Christmas Day morning (she knows about this) and my brother is getting a six day holiday to Rajasthan, starting on Boxing Day.
We have decided not to send cards (except where Phil could deliver these in person in December) as my trust in the reliability of the postal system is not high, so we will be keeping our communication electronic for Christmas 2013.
All is all, being in India helps to keep Christmas in perspective and it is refreshing to be away from the present-buying and Christmas preparation marathon this year.
4) Christmas Lunch
We will be having our first ever Christmas lunch away from home, as my brother's Christmas present to us all will be Christmas Brunch at the Taj hotel in Bandra. Super! But will Christmas feel the same without many hours of cooking build up and temperatures rising in the kitchen?! We will find out on Wednesday...
We have though stocked up on a few Christmas essentials...a big stilton, chocolates, port etc. There are some things that really should be around at Christmas, wherever you are in the world.
5) Spreading Christmas cheer
My team at work is still relatively small (seven people) so we took the opportunity to invite everyone round for Christmas dinner last week whilst our team is still small enough to fit round our dining table! We should have grown to over 15 people by this time next year, so that will be more tricky to organise.
Cooking a full Christmas dinner can be challenging in itself but we had the additional considerations of (i) vegetarians; (ii) no alcohol for some people; (iii) lots of traditional meal components being tricky to source in India; and (iv) we don't have an oven. The last point on this list was definitely the most challenging!
Anyway, we adapted and creatively assembled something close to a traditional Christmas lunch. Turkey was replaced with chicken (from the excellent local butchers, a good find); Christmas pudding, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix and good coffee were imported by Phil; and I searched most shops in Bandra to find red cabbage (mission accomplished!).
After quite a bit of prep (having a maid is excellent in both the vegetable preparation and washing-up stages of the meal), we had a lovely evening and introduced several of our guests to new foods. The bread sauce and stuffing went down particularly well. We served smoked salmon and cream cheese nibbles, pumpkin and ginger soup, slowed cooked chicken in red wine with mountains of vegetables and trimmings (mushroom risotto for vegetarians), Christmas pud and Jamie's Oliver icecream / dried fruit / cake bombe, and mince pies (provided by my manager Melanie).
Unfortunately, we massively over-catered, but this meant that Veronica (our maid) and her family all had Christmas lunch too as we packed it up for her to take home the next day. She was delighted.
6) Keeping in touch
Christmas is the time when you can feel most distant from family and friends, so we're very happy that my family will be joining us in India, and that Phil spent time with his parents when in York earlier in December. We will be doing lots of Skype-ing on Christmas Day, and distracting ourselves afterwards with a six-day holiday to Rajasthan (Jodhpur and Jaisalmer) including taking my family on Indian trains and a camel safari! We'll be back in the UK for Christmas 2014, but intend to make the most of this alternative Christmas experience this year.
1) The temperature (although it is winter here) still approaches 30 degrees with consistent beautiful sunshine.
2) The last month has not been packed with Christmas parties / drinks / dinners leaving me feeling like I've had more than enough Christmas-related indulgence before 25 December has arrived.
3) There are no Christmas advertisements on the television!
Given that less than 5% of India's population is Christian, Christmas is not nearly as an important a festival in India as in the UK. Saying that, India's Christian population is concentrated on the west coast (Goa, Kerala) and we live in Bandra, the base for Mumbai's Catholic residents, which has several big churches and Christian schools. On top of that, Mumbai is strongly influenced by Western culture so many people are more than happy to enjoy Christmas festivities, irrespective of the underlying meaning of the festival.
So here is how we have prepared for Christmas.
1) Christmas tree
When leaving the UK in June, we didn't pack our artificial tree as (i) we initially thought we would go back to the UK in Year 1; and (ii) we didn't know how much space we would have in India, so packing a Christmas tree and a big box of decorations seemed a bit gratuitous.
Last weekend, when Phil was still away in the UK, I set it as my challenge to find a real tree in Mumbai. I'd spoken to others who have managed this, so thought that this task would be straightforward, but Sagar and I unfortunately failed to find any of the garden centres that they'd described to me (not on the map...). We trawled around for ages, including visiting several artificial tree shops (Sagar was keen, me less so) before finishing the day at a little plant shop close to our apartment. I was completely fed up by this point but the enthusiastic shop owner pointed to a bunch of ferny-looking branches which he claimed was a Christmas tree, so I went with it.
Admittedly, now the tree is at home and insitu, it is clear that it is more of a plant than a tree. In fact, it is definitely not a tree. Nevertheless, we have festooned it with lights, baubles and tinsel and it does the job. I'm not sure that I'm ever going to be allowed to take charge of Christmas tree purchase again though!
Our Indian Christmas plant
2) Decorations
Phil brought back a bag of decorations from the UK (kindly donated by Phil's parents) and we found some cheap tinsel in one of the many tacky Christmas decoration stalls nearby. The highlight for me though is a set of six decorations that I found in my new favourite shop (Good Earth) which are metal Indian style flat baubles in the shape of lions, elephants and peacocks. They are lovely.
Lion
Elephant
Good Earth has beautiful products but at western prices. I will try to treat myself sparingly.
3) Presents and cards
This has been extremely calm and lacking in stress this year. We bought presents for Phil's family early so that we could take these to the UK in October, and Phil completed the shopping and wrapping whilst in the UK last week. My family are easy. I've booked to take my mum for a fancy massage (completely with sauna, steam room etc) on Christmas Day morning (she knows about this) and my brother is getting a six day holiday to Rajasthan, starting on Boxing Day.
We have decided not to send cards (except where Phil could deliver these in person in December) as my trust in the reliability of the postal system is not high, so we will be keeping our communication electronic for Christmas 2013.
All is all, being in India helps to keep Christmas in perspective and it is refreshing to be away from the present-buying and Christmas preparation marathon this year.
4) Christmas Lunch
We will be having our first ever Christmas lunch away from home, as my brother's Christmas present to us all will be Christmas Brunch at the Taj hotel in Bandra. Super! But will Christmas feel the same without many hours of cooking build up and temperatures rising in the kitchen?! We will find out on Wednesday...
We have though stocked up on a few Christmas essentials...a big stilton, chocolates, port etc. There are some things that really should be around at Christmas, wherever you are in the world.
5) Spreading Christmas cheer
My team at work is still relatively small (seven people) so we took the opportunity to invite everyone round for Christmas dinner last week whilst our team is still small enough to fit round our dining table! We should have grown to over 15 people by this time next year, so that will be more tricky to organise.
Cooking a full Christmas dinner can be challenging in itself but we had the additional considerations of (i) vegetarians; (ii) no alcohol for some people; (iii) lots of traditional meal components being tricky to source in India; and (iv) we don't have an oven. The last point on this list was definitely the most challenging!
Anyway, we adapted and creatively assembled something close to a traditional Christmas lunch. Turkey was replaced with chicken (from the excellent local butchers, a good find); Christmas pudding, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix and good coffee were imported by Phil; and I searched most shops in Bandra to find red cabbage (mission accomplished!).
After quite a bit of prep (having a maid is excellent in both the vegetable preparation and washing-up stages of the meal), we had a lovely evening and introduced several of our guests to new foods. The bread sauce and stuffing went down particularly well. We served smoked salmon and cream cheese nibbles, pumpkin and ginger soup, slowed cooked chicken in red wine with mountains of vegetables and trimmings (mushroom risotto for vegetarians), Christmas pud and Jamie's Oliver icecream / dried fruit / cake bombe, and mince pies (provided by my manager Melanie).
The team
Jamie's Christmas icecream bombe (thanks to Mary Earis for the recipe)
Unfortunately, we massively over-catered, but this meant that Veronica (our maid) and her family all had Christmas lunch too as we packed it up for her to take home the next day. She was delighted.
6) Keeping in touch
Christmas is the time when you can feel most distant from family and friends, so we're very happy that my family will be joining us in India, and that Phil spent time with his parents when in York earlier in December. We will be doing lots of Skype-ing on Christmas Day, and distracting ourselves afterwards with a six-day holiday to Rajasthan (Jodhpur and Jaisalmer) including taking my family on Indian trains and a camel safari! We'll be back in the UK for Christmas 2014, but intend to make the most of this alternative Christmas experience this year.
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