Christmas 2015

Lakshmi celebrates her birthday

Santa Monthi

Christmas Day. Jesus Christ’s birthday. But Lakshmi Hadimani insisted she too would celebrate her birthday today. We pointed out that it was pointless -- that her birthday was on another day and it had long gone by and that she should please try to remember.
Monthi Serrao even reminded her that she was born on December 10 and to celebrate after a fortnight, would appear silly. “Let it pass,” Monthi advised her country cousin. “No need to celebrate.”
But Lakshmi was adamant. She believed it was her birthright to celebrate her birthday any day, any time she pleased and to deny her the honour of sharing the day with Jesus Christ was some kind of conspiracy.

Mallika Kagzi's 'tea ceremony'

She became all the more suspicious when she saw Monthi hogging the limelight in a bright red Santa Claus costume and distributing mysterious goodies from a big red bag in the Garden.
So Lakshmi put on a mauve kurta and stationed herself strategically at the gate of the Garden. She declared she too had gone to church and that well, it was not her birthday today, but actually her brother’s. But she would celebrate both birthdays this morning at the Gate – hers with the Vyanjan food packets and her brother’s, with sliced fruitcake. So for us hungry souls (and many other passersby) it was a double treat.
The real Christmas celebration was inside the Garden with Monthi, as usual, handing out crispy home-made savories, jelly sweet and pastry, sealed with loving care in neat polythene packets – something we have come to expect of her every year. For, on this auspicious occasion, she is the one to remind us of essential Christian values, of love, sharing and ‘bringing happiness to others'.
And who could have missed Mallika Kagzi and her quiet celebration in the China Hut? The piping hot tea she poured out of her silver flask was just what the doctor ordered on a cold, windy morning. Merry Christmas everybody!
Bihari Milwani:
On a chilly winter morning, do you assemble for the exercises or are you seeking an excuse for a grand treat?