Spectator by Seema Goswami: Greet expectations
So, how do you phrase your greetings during this festive season? Do you say a mealy-mouthed ‘Happy Holidays’ to try and establish your ‘secular’ credentials? Or do you ignore the politically correct phrase and go with the more accurate ‘Happy Christmas’ — or ‘Merry Christmas’ (if you are not an upper-class English person)?
In case you missed it, the US President, Donald Trump, has made it his mission to rescue Merry Christmas from the mealy-mouthed brigade, and restore it to its previous glory by using the phrase every chance he gets around the festive season. And why ever not? After all, Christmas is very much a Christian holiday, celebrating as it does the birth of Jesus Christ. So why shouldn’t people be celebrating with the cry of “Merry Christmas” rather than the religion-neutral “Happy Holidays”?
The irony of this, of course, is that the phrase “Merry Christmas” has never gone out of style in those areas of the world that celebrate this holiday as a secular festival. In India, for instance, Christmas has always been celebrated as a secular holiday by people of all faiths. Christians may be a tiny minority in this country, but you would never think so if you wandered through an Indian marketplace, hotel or mall at this time of year. You can’t move for the Christmas decorations that flood these spaces, and you are guaranteed to encounter an even more elaborately decorated tree every few yards.
Growing up in Calcutta (as it then was), Christmas — or Burra Din, as we called it — was always a special time of year for everyone, not just those of Christian faith. The main promenade of the city, Park Street, would be lit up with Christmas lights, with every shop and restaurant doing their best to stand out with their own decorations. Heaving crowds would pass along Park Street and Chowringhee around midnight on Christmas Eve. And in our family, it was a long-standing tradition to celebrate Christmas Day with a picnic in Botanical Gardens, with all of us kids sporting red Santa caps. The now-legendary Nahoums christmas cake would be ceremonially cut and doled out to everyone after the meal. And yes, we wished each other a Merry Christmas!
Nor is the phenomenon of Christmas as a ‘secular festival’ peculiar to India. I am writing this column from Bangkok, and the Thai capital is awash with Christmas trees dressed up in a variety of styles. Mistletoe has been strung up, and the shops are doing brisk business in Christmas cakes and decorations. Wherever you turn, you see the greeting “Merry Christmas” emblazoned in glittering letters, even though it’s not just Christians who are celebrating.
Why, even in a Muslim-majority destination like Dubai, you see the Christmas spirit alive and well at this time of the year, with tinsel and holly dominating the decoration schemes. Christmas Eve dinners and Christmas Day lunches are grand affairs. And kids of every denomination line up to sit on Santa’s lap and make their case for the best-ever Christmas presents.
And yes, you never ever hear a mealy-mouthed “Happy Holidays”. No, it is as it should be, “Merry Christmas” all the way!
