Run Up to Christmas

For us in Delhi, Christmas meant extreme and harsh winters (generally winters used to be very severe during 10 days of school winter break running up to New Year, with foggy morning, cloudy days and extremely cold nights) and Christmas bazaar at iconic Connaught Place, which was decked up like a bride. Wengers, the famous cake and pastry shop that has seen many winters and still retains its numero uno position as the best cake shop in the capital, used to sell out most of its products by the early evening leaving the connoisseurs disappointed. The local Church near our home had a mid night mass on the Christmas Eve and a fate where some of the typical delicacies were available.

However, the beauty and festivity of Christmas was much more pronounced when I moved out of Delhi, settled in Mumbai and visited overseas destinations such as Singapore and Johannesburg around Christmas/ New Year period. Bright lights, shops overflowing with Christmas goodies and prominent stores and market places having Santa distributing gifts to children caught my imagination. Catholic dominated localities like Bandra and Orlem ( Malad) wearing bridal looks transported one to a different world altogether.

It’s Christmas time once again and I am looking forward to relishing all these unique offerings of this cosmopolitan city Mumbai.