Christmas, Christians & Christianity in India

Christmas and Christianity is becoming popular in India. There was once a time, when only a few houses in an entire area, that hang "Christmas stars" outside. Today, there are few houses in every street, with glittering "Christmas stars" hung outside.

Christmas is getting celebrated in a big way, in India. Since it is a government holiday, many party halls and restaurants are filled with people. It isn't just common man who is celebrating Christmas, in India. Even commercial establishments and eateries make Christmas, a big event. They announce a lot of sweet deals and offers around Christmas. News papers are filled with Christmas related advertisements.

Santa Claus is getting popular in schools, these days. My daughter in KG, came home with a small toy car and some candy. She said "Santa Claus came to our school today to give gifts to everyone !!". She was very cheerful on getting a gift from Santa Claus. 

My uncle is a Christian for several decades now. A couple of my relatives converted to Christianity, recently. Though I'm not a strong believer of one particular religion, I'm quite surprised by the conversion rate. I learned that Christian missionaries help folks who are in "need". In fact, one of my
relatives got an aid to set up a petty shop. Needless to say that he became a Christian.Christian missionaries run several schools in Chennai - many of them provide free education to the needy and to the bright students. One of my neighbors died unexpectedly and the Christian school in which his sons studied, took care of the kids' educational expenses.

There is a church in every other street, now. When I say church, don't imagine a Roman style church. Folks have rented out or converted large halls into churches for their regular prayers. Just take a morning walk, you would notice a number of people attending early morning prayers/mass in the churches.

Sundays are very special. You can see a number of Christians, well dressed up and with a bible in their hand, visiting churches. People of different age groups, different gender, different race, different economical status attend the mass on Sundays. It is nice to see people getting disciplined. Christians do organize processions on special days such as Christmas. Of course, when there is crowd, there are beggars. Beggars gather outside the church, eagerly waiting for the mass to be over, to get alms.

I did some Internet search to find numbers to substantiate my observations, on the growth of Christianity. However, I could find none. Christians constitute only 2.34% of the overall Indian population (based on census data published in 2004). The growth rate of Christianity in 2004 was 23% (when compared to 21% in 1991). The numbers don't add-up to justify my observations. I'm very curious to see the results of the census data being gathered now, in India.

Subway experience - How much can you change?!

How much can you change in 6 years? .. a lot!! I got reminded of a dining experience at Subway restaurant, in US.

It was the year 2002. Days after I landed in US for my job. My friend took me for lunch to a nearby Subway restaurant. Hey! It is one of the few places where you can have a stomach full veggie food for less than $5. There was a long queue in the restaurant. After a 5 minutes wait in the queue, my turn came. I had asked my friend about what to order. So, I just started firing "I want a foot long Veggie Patty". The guy in the shop asked "What bread Sir?" Oh my God! I wasn't prepared for this question. I looked at my friend who took me to Subway. My friend asked "Do you want Wheat bread or Italian?". "Wheat" sounded to be healthy. So, I told "Wheat". Now, the guy in the shop asked "Sir! What do you want on it?" Common, not again! I looked at the counter in which they had kept the sandwich ingredients. There are atleast 15 different items that I can choose from. First of all, I don't know "What some of the ingredients" are. Second of all, I don't know the "English" name for some of them. Again, I looked at my friend. He told to the guy in the shop "He eats everything. Put everything on it!". Oh, what a relief!

We moved to the billing counter. The guy in the counter greeted us with a "Namaste!". He asked "Do you want a drink? The combo comes with drink and chips. Do you want a combo Sir?" I decided to have a combo, because I get more for the price. Also, I liked the bubbling fresh drink & hot chips. When I had my first bite of the sandwich, I was disappointed. It was not tasty at all. Moreover, the wheat bread was very hard to chew. I didn't want to "waste" the sandwich. So, I managed to eat it in full. The drink & chips really were necessary for me to complete the foot long sandwich. 

Fast forward, 6 years from then. During my last visit to the same Subway shop, I ordered a Veggie Delite. The guy in the shop asked "What bread Sir?". I told him "Italian". The guy asked "Sir! What do you want on it?" I told him "Onion, Jalapeno, Black olives, tomato, no ranch dressing, no Cheese ...". I exactly told him what I want on it. I moved to the billing counter and skipped the offer for the drink & chips (Well, drink contains carbs & chips contains fat!). I just took a glass of water. I relished my foot long sandwich. It tasted sooo... good (Well, being a Vegan provides you very less options to eat. So, you have to be happy with what you get ! :)).

What difference did my stay in US for 6 years make?

1. I don't go to Subway because the sandwich is cheap. I go to Subway because it is a healthy choice. 
2. I watch for calories & fat in the food that I eat. I'm ready to skip (actually, sacrifice) even my favorite drink & chips
3. I love cold sandwiches (got used to its taste!)
4. I now understand what ingredients go into a Sandwich. I can name them in English :)
5. If someone asks me a tough question like "What do you want", I'm conditioned to ask "What are the options that I have" (instead of just staring at them, spell bound).

This is not just an unique experience that only I went through. I'm sure many of you might have had a similar experience. But, looking back, it feels so good that we've evolved over a period of time & the evolution is for good!

Also read:

Returning to India
Stages of Immigrant Life in USA

Diwali without sparks, but doesn't miss the mark

It is nearly 7 years since I celebrated my last Diwali at "home". Running down the memory lane, Diwali always has been very special. Getting up very early in the morning, taking an oil bath, wearing brand new dresses, day full of delicious food, special occasion sweets/savories, oh... how can I forget the smell and sound of crackers. In fact, on the day of Diwali, most of us are woken up only by the sound of the crackers. As a kid, I never had a proper sleep on the day before Diwali. Primarily because of the curiosity/excitement and partly because people start to fire high sounding crackers very early in the morning. I'm sure this is not a one-off experience. Many of you would've had a similar experience during your childhood.

Things have changed drastically over the last several years. Today, I was waiting for the cracker noise to wake me up. But, I didn't hear any cracker sound until 7 am in the morning. So, I was very disappointed. Later, I learned that there is a rule not to fire crackers between 10 pm - 6 am. My mom/wife have been literally living in the kitchen for the last 2 days, preparing lots of delicious food, non-stop.

Chennai is now very different from the Madras that I saw, growing up. There are not THAT many shops selling crackers. People (at least the educated), are more aware of the impacts of bursting crackers. Hearing repeatedly about global warming & climate changes in TV/Radio & News, people to some extent, have minimized the bursting of crackers. Moreover, TV channels are competing with each other to glue their audience to the couch by broadcasting 'highly tempting' programs. People don't even mind the non-stop advertisements. Almost all the TV channels are broadcasting 'thiraiikku vandhu sila madhangaleay aana" kind movies (i.e., very recent movies). In another 20 years or so, I believe people will almost drop the habit of bursting crackers on the Diwali day.

Diwali is still comparable to Christmas celebrations in US. Diwali creates a busy shopping season. Shops are offering deep discounts to attract buyers during the tough times. People spend a lot of money on dresses, house hold items, gold etc., There are new movies released during Diwali (Aadhavan from Suriya & Peranmai from Jeyam Ravi).

Overall, it is wonderful to celebrate Diwali in India. It gives an opportunity to call friends/relatives, whom we haven't touch based for a long time. It gives an opportunity for us to exchange sweets with neighbors. It also, brings lots of excitement to kids. In simple words, Diwali is fun ... fun... nothing but fun.

Also read:

Ganesh Chathurthi in India

Lavish birthday party's cost = A poor child's education cost for 12 years

All of us love our kids, so much. In fact, they are our world. We would do anything for them. Our kids' birthdays are very special to us. Birthdays are definitely important milestones to celebrate. First of all, we want the birthday to be very memorable for our kids. Second of all, it is the right time for us to pat ourselves for our excellent work of managing them, another year.

Parents spend a lot of money to celebrate their kid's birthdays. We invite friends/relatives for an evening get together. We order food, cake & mementos. An average birthday party costs anywhere from $600 - $1000 (in US) & at least Rs.25,000 (in India). We all rejoice that evening. The kids definitely have lots of fun. They feel so special. Now, fast forward 25 years. Will our kid remember the 'grand birthday party' that we organized, 25 years ago (without us showing him/her the birthday photographs?). Will our friends/relatives remember all the birthday parties they attended?

So, what is my point, here? Am, I asking you NOT to celebrate birthdays? Am I asking you NOT to throw birthday parties? Am I trying to say that the money spent on birthday parties is a WASTE?

No... No... No...

As I said earlier, birthday celebrations are very important for kids. Some kids do remember whether you celebrated their birthdays or not. But, what they DON'T REMEMBER or what they DON'T CARE is 'How grand the celebration was'.

Do you know what difference you can make in the life of some people, if you are able to scale-down the magnitude of such birthday parties? With $600 you can sponsor a child's education up to +2 level (i.e., 14 years of education). With Rs.10,000 you can take care of all the expenses of a child for 1 year (including education). Imagine the difference you can make on the life of these kids. Your friends may forget the birthday parties in a year or so. But, these kids who are receiving your sponsorship will remember you forever. If you start to sponsor a child's education, up to +2, every year, by the time your kid turns 20, you would've changed the life of 20 kids. Imagine the satisfaction that you'll get by performing such a noble deed.

You may think, "Why should I cut-down on my kid's birthday party spending? I'll organize a big birthday bash & I'll also donate some money to support poor kids". The "conservative" in me, still feels that the money spent on the big birthday bash can help another poor kid. But, if you can help support a kid every year, that itself is wonderful. You'll be remembered very much for that noble deed. The famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, "You can have everything you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want!”

If you are interested, you can donate to Udavum Karangal. Donating to Udavum Karangal is very easy. You can do it from their web site, with your credit card. You'll get regular progress reports for the child you are sponsoring. 

(Note: I'm not associated with Udavum Karangal. But, I have been to their facilities in the past. They really do a good job of taking care of the kids & needy people. They really put your hard earned money to good use)

Ganesha Chathurthi in India

We celebrated Ganesh Chathurthi in its entirety for the first time after several years. Now we realize, what we have been missing all these days in US. I went for a walk early in the morning just to get a hang of the festival. You can hear the devotional songs played at temples from 1/2 km away. Temples were decorated with flowers, artificial paper hangings and lamps. Temples were testing their operational efficiency by serving devotees non-stop since 6 am. There were new-born shops on the road-side selling Ganesh idols, flowers, garlands, fruits etc., You can see all kinds of Ganesh idols being sold - customized to each economic class (ranging from small to huge ones, plain to colored ones, simple to decorated ones). Mountains & mountains of clay was getting converted into Ganesh idols. Our folks' creativity doesn't end there. There were wonderful handmade small umbrellas made for God. The folks who were selling things at the road side and the folks who were buying them looked pious.

All TV channels were broadcasting movies of leading STARs. If any of the Ganesha celebrations do not excite you, the TV programs would definitely will. Of course, you have to be patient enough to watch the soaps.

At home, the ladies were busy with cleaning the 'pooja' room and preparing delicious food items to offer to Lord Ganesha. The God doesn't eat those food, but it is a feast for us :) I had full-fledged meals for lunch served on banyan leaf in a traditional way. There were lots of dishes prepared at home. Just tasting each of them filled my stomach. Listing the dishes here would water your mouth - so, I would defer that :)

It was indeed a memorable day. I'm looking forward to the Saraswathi Pooja & Diwali festivals - which are celebrated in a grand way in India.

Also read:

Diwali without sparks, but doesn't miss the mark