Ek din mar jaayega Kutte ki mauth ghar wale keh jaayenge margaya madar chod

maa chod… behen chod…

i want more of this kind

I wasn’t kidding actually. My concern isn’t so much with celebrating Christmas but rather with celebrating Christmas as an alternative to traditional holidays. When I was growing up, my parents used to put up a Christmas tree and I even got gifts but we rarely even acknowledged Diwali or Ugadi except for a passing request by mom to go pray for a little bit.

Also, where do you draw the line? Easter is almost as secularized as Christmas but I don’t see too many of us celebrating it.

This is only part kidding, at least for me. I would like to see my kids believing in Santa and the innocence of it all simply because that is the metaphor they are growing up with. Children need something to look forward to and believe in, in a world where everything is rational and scientific. However the alternate problem that Chitrana has expressed is that if I deliberately set out making my kids think about whether a being like Santa can exist, in the eyes of some, I could be seen as anti-christian, when really I am anti-religious. It would have been easier for me, living in India, to gently poke fun at Ganesha and Krishna without being seen as anti something because I am Hindu. So yes, unfortunately, I cave in to the whole Christmas thing, because it is just easier and because, well, it is a whole lot of fun and I had my Deepavali, let them have their Christmas with friends. Why take the fun out of Christmas? There is time enough for that when the grow up:-) Actually, I do like the fact that Christmas is not so blatantly religious, because that was exactly how Deepavali was for me. It was all about good food, adults who did not care if I did not do my homework, lots of fireworks, new clothes and pure fun. I doubt most kids from India including me delved into the history of Deepavali and all that business of Ravana etc…Why spoil the myths with morals and religiousness?

I cave in too, I agree kids shouldn’t be left out and at least then don’t have to worry so much about the awkward question of “You don’t celebrate Christmas do you?” The point I was trying to make was that we do get roped in exactly because it is has largely become secular and assimilation is important.

This is only part kidding, at least for me. I would like to see my kids believing in Santa and the innocence of it all simply because that is the metaphor they are growing up with. Children need something to look forward to and believe in, in a world where everything is rational and scientific. However the alternate problem that Chitrana has expressed is that if I deliberately set out making my kids think about whether a being like Santa can exist, in the eyes of some, I could be seen as anti-christian, when really I am anti-religious. It would have been easier for me, living in India, to gently poke fun at Ganesha and Krishna without being seen as anti something because I am Hindu. So yes, unfortunately, I cave in to the whole Christmas thing, because it is just easier and because, well, it is a whole lot of fun and I had my Deepavali, let them have their Christmas with friends. Why take the fun out of Christmas? There is time enough for that when the grow up:-) Actually, I do like the fact that Christmas is not so blatantly religious, because that was exactly how Deepavali was for me. It was all about good food, adults who did not care if I did not do my homework, lots of fireworks, new clothes and pure fun. I doubt most kids from India including me delved into the history of Deepavali and all that business of Ravana etc…Why spoil the myths with morals and religiousness?

Ah oui, the Sokal affair. I had to read Fashionable Nonsense for a calculus course but that prof was militantly opposed to the notion that the humanities add any value to life.

While we are at it, isn’t St. Patrick’s day pretty racist too? What if you don’t like green?

That’s a damn good point. It’s a blatant European stratagem to misappropriate the sanctity of the colour green in Islam and thereby disenfranchise the latter’s monopoly and authority over this area. Even more heinous that St. Patrick’s Day is frequently combined with copious amounts of alcohol consumption. All this is tangible evidence of the ongoing Neo-ZioNazi conspiracy and is definitely worthy of a fatwa or three.

The Turnip,

I would just like to see him sliding down and taking all the credit for the gifts that I have to buy and plant in his stead.

It gets even worse. Why are there no brown elves ? Hell, why is Santa Claus white ? Why do they think the world’s children need free handouts from some old white dude shacked up with a bunch of vertically-challenged squeaky-voiced Scandinavians in the North Pole ? And what’s all this crap about “good children vs bad children” ? Why should brown children be judged according to highly-subjective standards of morality skewed by a post-modern neo-Christian neo-European ethical framework ?

Seeker,

Jaisingh, my understanding about ‘white’ christmas has to do with snow, not race if that’s what you mean.

It all depends on whether you think I’m actually being serious about all this

It always pains me to see non christian desi families, especially those with younger kids, putting up Christimas trees and decorations so that their kids don’t get left out… Sometimes I wish Christmas was much more religious so that we don’t have an excuse to participate.

what? and I am supposed to feed this guy cookies and milk? there is going be a fire roaring in my lovely natural wood burning fireplace this winter. Thanks for wising me upto this “institutionalised oppression and racism” Jai! I would just like to see him sliding down and taking all the credit for the gifts that I have to buy and plant in his stead.