I am celebrating the spirit of Christmas with the #UnwrapChristmas blog post chain. I am thankful to Esha for passing on the baton of spreading Christmas joy and spirit to me.

 “Did I ever celebrate Christmas?”

The thought had been lingering in my mind for a while now. It started on the day my dear friend Anagha asked me to write a post on Christmas for a guest post (blog hop) activity few days back. She was kind enough to change the topic at my request when I told her that I never celebrated Christmas. Now, when I give it a serious thought, I feel it was quite foolish of me to think that I never celebrated Christmas! As I am celebrating it unknowingly my whole life!

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I am a polytheist by nature. Well, my own version of it of course. My thinking obliges me from accepting one deity as the supreme power. I had been analyzing my opinions, thoughts and beliefs over the years and came to a conclusion that I believe in all gods but only follow my heart which means for sure I do not follow any particular religion. Unknowingly these views were hidden in my innocent self as well. It was just that I never gave a serious thought about it!

I hail from an orthodox Brahmin family who belong to the state of Nizams and most of my schooling happened in a christian missionary school. One can notice the diversity already!

Christmas celebrations were a highlight in our school. Christmas tree decoration, cake cutting and cultural activities were something we all enjoyed a lot as kids. The best part was when the goodies were distributed to each and every student of the school. I now feel that those good old days were the best days in life. Frankly, we were not aware of the term ‘intolerance’ then!

Christmas also reminds me of a small adventure I had when I was 11 years old. I snuck out of the house along with my sister by telling everyone that we are off to play and went to a church instead. Hailing from an orthodox family it was out of the question that we would be allowed to go to a church. I still remember the stern look my grandpa gave me when I told him that we spent some time in the church. 

When I came to know about the blog chain being conducted as a part of the ‘Secret Santa’ activity, I made up my mind to address an important issue. I always had this question in my thoughts that why is it so difficult for anyone to show mutual respect to each others beliefs irrespective of the religion/faith they follow! Intolerance is not in our culture. The foundation of India was not built upon intolerance. The rate of communal violence and hate crimes is alarming now a days. It breaks my heart to see our brothers and sisters fighting over the so-called man created religions.

Every festival represents togetherness and happiness. As it is the time when family and friends take time off from the otherwise busy schedule and spend time which each other and celebrate.

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Gift from my Secret Santa, Rashi Mital

Hence, Christmas is no different; for it is a festival of togetherness in my view. It brings joy into a kid’s life in the form of gifts from the Santa.

Not to forget the adults like me who feel overjoyed and excited to see a gift!

I am glad that I took part in ‘Secret Santa‘ contest conducted by Writetribe and Blogchatter this year. I love to add a personal element to my gifts and I enjoyed making handmade bookmarks for both my Santee’s 🙂

I hope they loved the surprises as much as I enjoyed packing and sending those gifts!

Love and be loved folks! Let’s not forget the fact that harmony and unity in diversity helped our country stand tall among other nations! Let’s stand strong for each other 🙂

I now invite Ankita to carry forth the Christmas cheer.

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