Madhulika Liddle on her anthology 'Indian Christmas' & the joys of celebrating a festival so universal yet diverse.
The book demonstrates how other communities have always participated in the celebration of Christmas and continue to do so. Charming family traditions, daisy versions of Christmas lunches and dinners, decorations, rituals all of these find place in the pages of the book which has been garnering great reviews since its launch. Madhulika joins me today as we delve a bit deeper into the book and talk about the festival that is universal, yet so personal. Hello Madlika. It's great to have you on. Swell
And they set off trying to find people who would sort of be a part of this book which is all about Christmas celebrated in India and the very many ways in which it is celebrated and the many ways in which it is a part of India. I mean, Christmas, as you rightly pointed out, that while it's an import, it has been Indianized. So that is the crux of this book of showing how very, very typically Indian Christmas is
Thank you for that. It's really interesting to know what actually transpired and sparked the idea for Indian Christmas. So among the many things the Pandemic made clear is how much we crave traditions and rituals like those associated with Christmas and how upsetting and disorienting it can be when they are disrupted. And while it's true that many of our traditions have religious origins, their contemporary meaning, I would say, has been transformed over time
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
So, for instance, in, say, America or England or something, christmas might be celebrated with Christmas puddings and roast turkey or roast goose or whatever and with carols and English things like that. But here in India, our traditions were different and so we've applied our traditions of, say, gujiyas and gadda kahalva and rose cookies and duck curries and things like that
I think what you mentioned about people choosing to focus on the celebratory essence of a festival minus all the religious connotations is absolutely bang on. I think we all are seeing that happen for not just Christmas, but the whole gamut of festivals. And I love those anecdotes that you shared about how you celebrate the valley at home. So a great anthology isn't just a bunch of stories in the book
Talking about their own memories and sharing their own insights into how they celebrate Christmas. We also wanted to bring in people from non Christian backgrounds talking about how they perceive Christmas, not necessarily celebrate Christmas, but also perceive Christmas. So for instance, you have Hans DA Sarvez Sheikhar who talks about Christmas celebrations in Jharkhand and how he connects or does not connect to those. And that is Mani Mukdasharama who has this wonderful essay on the history of Christmas celebrations in India
And I think somewhere we Christians as well. Besides all the religious essence of the festival and everything, we too are affected by the marketing and the commercialism to some extent. So, for instance, our Christmas ornaments and the Christmas decor and all might change and become more jazzy given what we are seeing around us. But underneath all of that, I think at the core of the festival, what really stands out for me is the spirit of peace and goodwill. That is for me the essence of Christmas
Thank you so much for taking the time out, Madhulika, and joining me in this great conversation around India and Christmas. I absolutely loved having this chat with you and I'm going to be going ahead and linking the Amazon link to the book here for our listeners to check out. Thank you once again, more power to your words and I do hope to have you back on for more such bookish conversations
