Day 2: Childhood Christmas Memories

The 100 Day Writing Project

Last night as I set up my Christmas tree with holiday jingles playing in the background, I was hit by a sense of nostalgia(along with several dust mites) with past years’ Christmas decorations and how every year without fail I put up a tree or some sort of festive decor keeping up with the Yuletide spirit. I remembered leaving the window slightly open for Santa to come in, lighting candles at the window; reading Christmas stories at bedtime, and waking up to presents by my pillow(placed by my sister till I was 18, no kidding). Of course I knew it was her and that Santa wasn’t visiting me from the North Pole but the excitement had been consistent every year without fail.

Even as I moved houses and became an adult with all its drama, Christmas and the pine trees(fake ones) have been constant in my life and every year without fail remind me of how far I’ve come with each tree and each decor symbolising that moment or that phase in my life, marking milestones(or not). From minuscule handmade trees and Coke can Santa’s, to making trees with books, elaborate theme based trees, to tiny ones on my window sill, or the hurried ten minutes one before midnight-each tree has a story to tell of a time in my life-laughing with cousins with my makeshift nativity-scene-in-a-cot, crying under the starry lights of my life sized tree, or celebrating Christmas smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Growing up Hindu in a convent school, I never knew that Christmas holidays will be the one I’ll cherish the most but the spirit behind all the hymns and carols sung at morning assembly did rub off on me after all. Happy Holidays!