Last year’s posting 🙂
Oh! How I miss mah school :((
The lovely Sacred Heart Cathedral and Mother Mary’s Statuette …. we all used to decorate and pack gifts for poor children, sing carols, light candles, make cndles, and d guitar 🙂 wow!
Here’s my heartfelt prayer…..
God Bless .. May all of us have peace and love! and
May each of us feel the love of God enfolding us! and
May each of us feel surrounded by God’s awesome light….. 🙂
May there be true love… genuine happiness and the sparkle of contentment in our eyes……
Feel God’s presence! He’s there!
Amen!
Merry Christmas!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuJUuQnSiHo&rel=1″>
Last year’s posting 🙂
Oh! How I miss mah school :((
The lovely Sacred Heart Cathedral and Mother Mary’s Statuette …. we all used to decorate and pack gifts for poor children, sing carols, light candles, make cndles, and d guitar 🙂 wow!
Here’s my heartfelt prayer…..
God Bless .. May all of us have peace and love! and
May each of us feel the love of God enfolding us! and
May each of us feel surrounded by God’s awesome light….. 🙂
May there be true love… genuine happiness and the sparkle of contentment in our eyes……
Feel God’s presence! He’s there!
Amen!
Merry Christmas!
Oh! How I miss mah school :((
The lovely Sacred Heart Cathedral and Mother Mary’s Statuette …. we all used to decorate and pack gifts for poor children, sing carols, light candles, make cndles, and d guitar 🙂 wow!
Here’s my heartfelt prayer…..
God Bless .. May all of us have peace and love! and
May each of us feel the love of God enfolding us! and
May each of us feel surrounded by God’s awesome light….. 🙂
May there be true love… genuine happiness and the sparkle of contentment in our eyes……
Feel God’s presence! He’s there!
Amen!
Merry Christmas!
Jingle Bells , Jingle Bells
Jingle All the way 😀
hmmm…. n my linked list of movies to watch:
Saw Chestnut d central park hero yesterday… choooooooooo cute 🙂 d two li’l orphan girls… how they take care of d dude dog… and how d story turns up… must watch 🙂 hehe….. very close 2 how i play with my pet 😛
1. Jab we met :D.. o punjabi kudi 😀
2. Welcome =)) hehe… d ad is so funny 😀
3.taare Zameen par …yo! for a ace khan 🙂 loved d songs :):) n Jodha Akbar
4. and yeeeeee… air buddies 😀 hehe nanhe natkhat :P:P how i loved cute mumble from Happy feet 😛 hehe
Last year’s posting 🙂
Oh! How I miss mah school :((
The lovely Sacred Heart Cathedral and Mother Mary’s Statuette …. we all used to decorate and pack gifts for poor children, sing carols, light candles, make cndles, and d guitar 🙂 wow!
Here’s my heartfelt prayer…..
God Bless .. May all of us have peace and love! and
May each of us feel the love of God enfolding us! and
May each of us feel surrounded by God’s awesome light….. 🙂
May there be true love… genuine happiness and the sparkle of contentment in our eyes……
Feel God’s presence! He’s there!
Amen!
Merry Christmas!
Jingle Bells , Jingle Bells
Jingle All the way 😀
hmmm…. n my linked list of movies to watch:
Saw Chestnut d central park hero yesterday… choooooooooo cute 🙂 d two li’l orphan girls… how they take care of d dude dog… and how d story turns up… must watch 🙂 hehe….. very close 2 how i play with my pet 😛
1. Jab we met :D.. o punjabi kudi 😀
2. Welcome =)) hehe… d ad is so funny 😀
3.taare Zameen par …yo! for a ace khan 🙂 loved d songs :):) n Jodha Akbar
4. and yeeeeee… air buddies 😀 hehe nanhe natkhat :P:P how i loved cute mumble from Happy feet 😛 hehe
Aw! and read this:
For people who want their Bible concise, scientists from Israel have come up with the ultimate — printing the entire Old Testament on a silicon chip the size of a pinhead.
Using nanotechnology, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, have printed the Old Testament onto a silicone chip smaller than a pinhead — less than 1/1000th of an inch.
Professor Uri Sivan of the Faculty of Physics, who came up with the idea to write the Old Testament on a tiny surface, said the text was written using a focused ion beam generator that shot tiny particles onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicone.
He described the process as similar to digging a hole in the earth using a water jet.
The actual “writing” took just 90 minutes but the computer program that guided the focused ion beam took more than three months.
“The nano-bible project demonstrates the miniaturization at our disposal,” Sivan said in a statement released by the American Technion Society (ATS) that supports higher education in Israel.
“This research could lead to the creation of more advanced miniature structures — and imaging — on a nanometric scale, advances in storing information in very small spaces, and the use of DNA molecules to store information.”
Source: Reuter
Aw! and read this:
For people who want their Bible concise, scientists from Israel have come up with the ultimate — printing the entire Old Testament on a silicon chip the size of a pinhead.
Using nanotechnology, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, have printed the Old Testament onto a silicone chip smaller than a pinhead — less than 1/1000th of an inch.
Professor Uri Sivan of the Faculty of Physics, who came up with the idea to write the Old Testament on a tiny surface, said the text was written using a focused ion beam generator that shot tiny particles onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicone.
He described the process as similar to digging a hole in the earth using a water jet.
The actual “writing” took just 90 minutes but the computer program that guided the focused ion beam took more than three months.
“The nano-bible project demonstrates the miniaturization at our disposal,” Sivan said in a statement released by the American Technion Society (ATS) that supports higher education in Israel.
“This research could lead to the creation of more advanced miniature structures — and imaging — on a nanometric scale, advances in storing information in very small spaces, and the use of DNA molecules to store information.”
Source: Reuter
Aw! and read this:
For people who want their Bible concise, scientists from Israel have come up with the ultimate — printing the entire Old Testament on a silicon chip the size of a pinhead.
Using nanotechnology, researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, have printed the Old Testament onto a silicone chip smaller than a pinhead — less than 1/1000th of an inch.
Professor Uri Sivan of the Faculty of Physics, who came up with the idea to write the Old Testament on a tiny surface, said the text was written using a focused ion beam generator that shot tiny particles onto a gold surface covering a base layer of silicone.
He described the process as similar to digging a hole in the earth using a water jet.
The actual “writing” took just 90 minutes but the computer program that guided the focused ion beam took more than three months.
“The nano-bible project demonstrates the miniaturization at our disposal,” Sivan said in a statement released by the American Technion Society (ATS) that supports higher education in Israel.
“This research could lead to the creation of more advanced miniature structures — and imaging — on a nanometric scale, advances in storing information in very small spaces, and the use of DNA molecules to store information.”
Source: Reuter
[Aw! well I’ve actually used all the ideas mentioned here 😀 hmmm… but then wht’s creativity;)
try making some candles at home – here’s my earlier posting – Make ur candles
Excuse moi for broken links.. d name of d blog’s changes a couple of times from thinktanks to innovate and create to upload intelligence to livinonedge :P]
Christmas is the time to show the ones you love just how much they mean to you. So, Christmas gifts need not be expensive and ostentatious (Ah! yes.. I truly believe in dis 🙂 – after all there’s nothing more expensive than pure love 🙂 )
In fact a unique homemade Christmas gift will do the trick. Creating a gift to suit the recipient, be it a child, teenager, girlfriend, teacher or parent doesn’t require much apart from creativity and some basic material. Besides, homemade Christmas gifts can be a touching expression of your love and good wishes. Taking time and effort to create a personalised Christmas gift will definitely strike a chord in the hearts of those you gift it to. So let’s get started…
Create personalised stationery for family members and close friends. Let your creative juices flow and you can come up with patterns and lettering that is best suited for each one. Add interesting twists with dried flowers, ribbons or motifs that you may have collected over the years. Mix and match several designs and colours.
Everyone would appreciate a well-tended and potted plant for a personalised Christmas gift. You can have small ornamental boxes and pots of interesting plants, if you are an avid gardener. You can create a hamper of seeds, cuttings and bulbs for a
Source: Times of India
The one symbol of hope, love and divinity that invariably glows throughout the North Eastern region of the country in this time of the year is the Christmas star. A paper star with an electric bulb adorns almost every house, shops, banks and offices.
The entire northeast is in a celebration mode, with people preparing for Christmas and welcoming the New Year as shops bank on the Santa Claus to boost their sales.
In fact, Christmas is a month long affair here. It is said that Christianity, the commonly practiced religion here, united the region that was separated due to linguistic, ethnic and geographical factors in the past. Christmas celebration is imbibed with family traditions, greetings and gifts here.
Real and artificial Christmas trees are decorated with cotton snow flakes, bells, colored balls, candy canes and other colored decorative in varying shapes. A mid night mass is held in all the churches.
Attired in new dresses, the faithful flock in churches singing carols. This service is not only a sacred prayer but also a social gathering. After the prayers the community feasting and games are held.
In the urban areas family and friends gather in restaurants and dance clubs that are open round the clock.
In the villages rice and pork is cooked for the feast in big wooden pots. The food is served in large banana leaves and shared among the people.
Young girls and boys entertain the crowd with songs and dances while the elders enjoy the rice beer.
The North East is also known for versatile choir groups. They perform in national channels in television during Christmas spreading the message of peace and love.
Conflict-ridden Nagaland is totally Christian-dominated. The Nagas are a fierce mountainous warrior tribe who were formerly head-hunters. Christianity was spread in Nagaland by British colonial rulers and missionaries in the 19th century.
In the picturesque hill station of Shillong, capital of the predominantly Christian Meghalaya, choir groups belt out carols in churches and public places. The sound of the church bells fill the air.
“This is the season of happiness and rejoicing,” says a Baptist church pastor and leader of a choir group.
As the choir group belts out the popular carol, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go”, people break into a jig.
“Everybody here is drowned in this yuletide passion and enjoys it till the core,” says Avner, a college student.
Shillong apart, the other Christian dominated states like Mizoram and Nagaland are equally ready for the festivities, the main cities decked up with a wall of sparkling lights, candles in the windows or a lit-up pine tree in the yards.
“The flow of shoppers has increased and we are open till very late. People buy gifts for friends and families as well as fashionable clothes,” says the owner of a leading shopping mall in Shillong, the fashion capital of the North East.
With many shopping arcades coming up in the northeast, shopkeepers also resort to extraordinary marketing tricks to woo customers.
“You buy goods worth Rs.1,000 and Santa Claus is going to give you a gift amounting to about Rs.500. This new offer has become an instant hit and we are unable to cope with the rush,” the manager of a garment outlet says.
The celebration apart, the catchword in the entire region is peace.
This is natural for an area where thousands have died in insurgencies.
“Everybody is impatiently waiting for Christmas day. Let us all join together in praying for a new dawn of peace and hope in the region,” says Rev. Dominic Jala, Archbishop of Shillong.
Spurred by the improvement in the law and order front, enterprising business people in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram are holding special Christmas dinners and parties by planning to rope in Indian and foreign DJs and music bands.
Special prayers would also be held on Christmas night at camps of militant groups in Nagaland. In Christian households, preparations for Christmas begin at least a month in advance. People get their homes whitewashed and indulge in spring cleaning of the house to give it a fresh new look. Ladies start preparations for the traditional Christmas cake, which is anxiously awaited not just by the entire family but also by the neighbors.
After all, the festival of Christmas is all about sharing, caring, hope and love.
Source -> Times of IndiaBorrowed from Times of India
Hmmm… whatever… i believe that just like d birthday hours….. d christmas eve and the Christmas day… whatever one wishes for sache mann se …. one gets….. 🙂 so be careful what you wish 4!
When my younger son was asked, at Sunday School, to write the names of the two most important people in his life at Christmas, he promptly wrote:
1. Santa Claus
2. Mummy
Then, perhaps, thinking of the repercussions of his admission No.2, he cancelled the second and wrote,
2. God
Okay, okay, I apologise. The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas, but try telling a five year old that! To most children, unless they are on the fast track to canonisation, Christmas is what Santa and their parents deliver. Period. And even when kids grow up and look up the elevator shaft (especially Indian kids in Mumbai who have never seen chimneys except in bakeries), wondering when Mr.Claus will turn up with his stockings, how many of us as parents have found the heart to say, “Sorry kid, there ain’t no Santa”? Even counsellors and psychologists are constantly confused and divided over the topic. Sometimes we’re told to get real. Tell them, tough luck kid, but it was your father who said ‘ho, ho, ho’ all these years. And just when we’re about to slather on some of that tough love act, there will be another school of thought going, ‘ho hum, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
As parents we want to preserve the magic of Christmas for our children as long as we can. And then some. Because in our hearts, we haven’t stopped believing in that magic either.
Even as the ‘disillusionment’ of a Santa-less life sets in, something else takes its place. I’ve seen it happen. It normally takes place on an open ground, when the air is crisp and the strains of Christmas carols fill up the dark night. And the church bells announce the arrival of yet another Christmas. It’s yet another Christmas to you and me, but to a kid who has just learnt to let go of her Christmas stocking, the midnight mass is his or her magic ground. It’s their mystical magical rites of Christmas.
Many of us who have attended the Midnight mass know the feeling. As grown ups we’ve read enough to know that the 25th December may not be the exact date of the Infant’s birth. It might well have been on the winter solstice on the 21st December. We know that Christmas trees and Mistletoes are mere trappings of the season but these are the touchy feely aspects of Christmas. The Midnight Mass to most of us is the ‘click’ that unleashes the spirit of the season within us. It’s a spiritual hug we get from the universe. And although the temperature is dipping, and the dew is giving us a mild headache, and there is a wrong note in the choir; for god’s sake will someone throttle the fake tenor, something is welling up inside us and setting us in the mood of the moment. It is the universal idea of Christmas, whether there is snow or dust where you live, whether you’re Christian or not. The mass, the rituals, the choir, the church bells, the simple sharing of cake and coffee, and then rushing home to open the presents which everyone from the 15 year old to the 50 year old have surreptitiously placed below the Christmas tree, it’s all part of the midnight magic, for us who have outgrown the notion of Santa Claus but retained the idea of St.Nicholas.
[Aw! well I’ve actually used all the ideas mentioned here 😀 hmmm… but then wht’s creativity;)
try making some candles at home – here’s my earlier posting – Make ur candles
Excuse moi for broken links.. d name of d blog’s changes a couple of times from thinktanks to innovate and create to upload intelligence to livinonedge to collborative-innovation :P]
Christmas is the time to show the ones you love just how much they mean to you. So, Christmas gifts need not be expensive and ostentatious (Ah! yes.. I truly believe in dis 🙂 – after all there’s nothing more expensive than pure love 🙂 )
In fact a unique homemade Christmas gift will do the trick. Creating a gift to suit the recipient, be it a child, teenager, girlfriend, teacher or parent doesn’t require much apart from creativity and some basic material. Besides, homemade Christmas gifts can be a touching expression of your love and good wishes. Taking time and effort to create a personalised Christmas gift will definitely strike a chord in the hearts of those you gift it to. So let’s get started…
Create personalised stationery for family members and close friends. Let your creative juices flow and you can come up with patterns and lettering that is best suited for each one. Add interesting twists with dried flowers, ribbons or motifs that you may have collected over the years. Mix and match several designs and colours.
Everyone would appreciate a well-tended and potted plant for a personalised Christmas gift. You can have small ornamental boxes and pots of interesting plants, if you are an avid gardener. You can create a hamper of seeds, cuttings and bulbs for a
Source: Times of India
The one symbol of hope, love and divinity that invariably glows throughout the North Eastern region of the country in this time of the year is the Christmas star. A paper star with an electric bulb adorns almost every house, shops, banks and offices.
The entire northeast is in a celebration mode, with people preparing for Christmas and welcoming the New Year as shops bank on the Santa Claus to boost their sales.
In fact, Christmas is a month long affair here. It is said that Christianity, the commonly practiced religion here, united the region that was separated due to linguistic, ethnic and geographical factors in the past. Christmas celebration is imbibed with family traditions, greetings and gifts here.
Real and artificial Christmas trees are decorated with cotton snow flakes, bells, colored balls, candy canes and other colored decorative in varying shapes. A mid night mass is held in all the churches.
Attired in new dresses, the faithful flock in churches singing carols. This service is not only a sacred prayer but also a social gathering. After the prayers the community feasting and games are held.
In the urban areas family and friends gather in restaurants and dance clubs that are open round the clock.
In the villages rice and pork is cooked for the feast in big wooden pots. The food is served in large banana leaves and shared among the people.
Young girls and boys entertain the crowd with songs and dances while the elders enjoy the rice beer.
The North East is also known for versatile choir groups. They perform in national channels in television during Christmas spreading the message of peace and love.
Conflict-ridden Nagaland is totally Christian-dominated. The Nagas are a fierce mountainous warrior tribe who were formerly head-hunters. Christianity was spread in Nagaland by British colonial rulers and missionaries in the 19th century.
In the picturesque hill station of Shillong, capital of the predominantly Christian Meghalaya, choir groups belt out carols in churches and public places. The sound of the church bells fill the air.
“This is the season of happiness and rejoicing,” says a Baptist church pastor and leader of a choir group.
As the choir group belts out the popular carol, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go”, people break into a jig.
“Everybody here is drowned in this yuletide passion and enjoys it till the core,” says Avner, a college student.
Shillong apart, the other Christian dominated states like Mizoram and Nagaland are equally ready for the festivities, the main cities decked up with a wall of sparkling lights, candles in the windows or a lit-up pine tree in the yards.
“The flow of shoppers has increased and we are open till very late. People buy gifts for friends and families as well as fashionable clothes,” says the owner of a leading shopping mall in Shillong, the fashion capital of the North East.
With many shopping arcades coming up in the northeast, shopkeepers also resort to extraordinary marketing tricks to woo customers.
“You buy goods worth Rs.1,000 and Santa Claus is going to give you a gift amounting to about Rs.500. This new offer has become an instant hit and we are unable to cope with the rush,” the manager of a garment outlet says.
The celebration apart, the catchword in the entire region is peace.
This is natural for an area where thousands have died in insurgencies.
“Everybody is impatiently waiting for Christmas day. Let us all join together in praying for a new dawn of peace and hope in the region,” says Rev. Dominic Jala, Archbishop of Shillong.
Spurred by the improvement in the law and order front, enterprising business people in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram are holding special Christmas dinners and parties by planning to rope in Indian and foreign DJs and music bands.
Special prayers would also be held on Christmas night at camps of militant groups in Nagaland. In Christian households, preparations for Christmas begin at least a month in advance. People get their homes whitewashed and indulge in spring cleaning of the house to give it a fresh new look. Ladies start preparations for the traditional Christmas cake, which is anxiously awaited not just by the entire family but also by the neighbors.
After all, the festival of Christmas is all about sharing, caring, hope and love.
Source -> Times of IndiaBorrowed from Times of India
Hmmm… whatever… i believe that just like d birthday hours….. d christmas eve and the Christmas day… whatever one wishes for sache mann se …. one gets….. 🙂 so be careful what you wish 4!
When my younger son was asked, at Sunday School, to write the names of the two most important people in his life at Christmas, he promptly wrote:
1. Santa Claus
2. Mummy
Then, perhaps, thinking of the repercussions of his admission No.2, he cancelled the second and wrote,
2. God
Okay, okay, I apologise. The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas, but try telling a five year old that! To most children, unless they are on the fast track to canonisation, Christmas is what Santa and their parents deliver. Period. And even when kids grow up and look up the elevator shaft (especially Indian kids in Mumbai who have never seen chimneys except in bakeries), wondering when Mr.Claus will turn up with his stockings, how many of us as parents have found the heart to say, “Sorry kid, there ain’t no Santa”? Even counsellors and psychologists are constantly confused and divided over the topic. Sometimes we’re told to get real. Tell them, tough luck kid, but it was your father who said ‘ho, ho, ho’ all these years. And just when we’re about to slather on some of that tough love act, there will be another school of thought going, ‘ho hum, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
As parents we want to preserve the magic of Christmas for our children as long as we can. And then some. Because in our hearts, we haven’t stopped believing in that magic either.
Even as the ‘disillusionment’ of a Santa-less life sets in, something else takes its place. I’ve seen it happen. It normally takes place on an open ground, when the air is crisp and the strains of Christmas carols fill up the dark night. And the church bells announce the arrival of yet another Christmas. It’s yet another Christmas to you and me, but to a kid who has just learnt to let go of her Christmas stocking, the midnight mass is his or her magic ground. It’s their mystical magical rites of Christmas.
Many of us who have attended the Midnight mass know the feeling. As grown ups we’ve read enough to know that the 25th December may not be the exact date of the Infant’s birth. It might well have been on the winter solstice on the 21st December. We know that Christmas trees and Mistletoes are mere trappings of the season but these are the touchy feely aspects of Christmas. The Midnight Mass to most of us is the ‘click’ that unleashes the spirit of the season within us. It’s a spiritual hug we get from the universe. And although the temperature is dipping, and the dew is giving us a mild headache, and there is a wrong note in the choir; for god’s sake will someone throttle the fake tenor, something is welling up inside us and setting us in the mood of the moment. It is the universal idea of Christmas, whether there is snow or dust where you live, whether you’re Christian or not. The mass, the rituals, the choir, the church bells, the simple sharing of cake and coffee, and then rushing home to open the presents which everyone from the 15 year old to the 50 year old have surreptitiously placed below the Christmas tree, it’s all part of the midnight magic, for us who have outgrown the notion of Santa Claus but retained the idea of St.Nicholas.
[Aw! well I’ve actually used all the ideas mentioned here 😀 hmmm… but then wht’s creativity;)
try making some candles at home – here’s my earlier posting – Make ur candles
Excuse moi for broken links.. d name of d blog’s changes a couple of times from thinktanks to innovate and create to upload intelligence to livinonedge :P]
Christmas is the time to show the ones you love just how much they mean to you. So, Christmas gifts need not be expensive and ostentatious (Ah! yes.. I truly believe in dis 🙂 – after all there’s nothing more expensive than pure love 🙂 )
In fact a unique homemade Christmas gift will do the trick. Creating a gift to suit the recipient, be it a child, teenager, girlfriend, teacher or parent doesn’t require much apart from creativity and some basic material. Besides, homemade Christmas gifts can be a touching expression of your love and good wishes. Taking time and effort to create a personalised Christmas gift will definitely strike a chord in the hearts of those you gift it to. So let’s get started…
Create personalised stationery for family members and close friends. Let your creative juices flow and you can come up with patterns and lettering that is best suited for each one. Add interesting twists with dried flowers, ribbons or motifs that you may have collected over the years. Mix and match several designs and colours.
Everyone would appreciate a well-tended and potted plant for a personalised Christmas gift. You can have small ornamental boxes and pots of interesting plants, if you are an avid gardener. You can create a hamper of seeds, cuttings and bulbs for a
Source: Times of India
The one symbol of hope, love and divinity that invariably glows throughout the North Eastern region of the country in this time of the year is the Christmas star. A paper star with an electric bulb adorns almost every house, shops, banks and offices.
The entire northeast is in a celebration mode, with people preparing for Christmas and welcoming the New Year as shops bank on the Santa Claus to boost their sales.
In fact, Christmas is a month long affair here. It is said that Christianity, the commonly practiced religion here, united the region that was separated due to linguistic, ethnic and geographical factors in the past. Christmas celebration is imbibed with family traditions, greetings and gifts here.
Real and artificial Christmas trees are decorated with cotton snow flakes, bells, colored balls, candy canes and other colored decorative in varying shapes. A mid night mass is held in all the churches.
Attired in new dresses, the faithful flock in churches singing carols. This service is not only a sacred prayer but also a social gathering. After the prayers the community feasting and games are held.
In the urban areas family and friends gather in restaurants and dance clubs that are open round the clock.
In the villages rice and pork is cooked for the feast in big wooden pots. The food is served in large banana leaves and shared among the people.
Young girls and boys entertain the crowd with songs and dances while the elders enjoy the rice beer.
The North East is also known for versatile choir groups. They perform in national channels in television during Christmas spreading the message of peace and love.
Conflict-ridden Nagaland is totally Christian-dominated. The Nagas are a fierce mountainous warrior tribe who were formerly head-hunters. Christianity was spread in Nagaland by British colonial rulers and missionaries in the 19th century.
In the picturesque hill station of Shillong, capital of the predominantly Christian Meghalaya, choir groups belt out carols in churches and public places. The sound of the church bells fill the air.
“This is the season of happiness and rejoicing,” says a Baptist church pastor and leader of a choir group.
As the choir group belts out the popular carol, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go”, people break into a jig.
“Everybody here is drowned in this yuletide passion and enjoys it till the core,” says Avner, a college student.
Shillong apart, the other Christian dominated states like Mizoram and Nagaland are equally ready for the festivities, the main cities decked up with a wall of sparkling lights, candles in the windows or a lit-up pine tree in the yards.
“The flow of shoppers has increased and we are open till very late. People buy gifts for friends and families as well as fashionable clothes,” says the owner of a leading shopping mall in Shillong, the fashion capital of the North East.
With many shopping arcades coming up in the northeast, shopkeepers also resort to extraordinary marketing tricks to woo customers.
“You buy goods worth Rs.1,000 and Santa Claus is going to give you a gift amounting to about Rs.500. This new offer has become an instant hit and we are unable to cope with the rush,” the manager of a garment outlet says.
The celebration apart, the catchword in the entire region is peace.
This is natural for an area where thousands have died in insurgencies.
“Everybody is impatiently waiting for Christmas day. Let us all join together in praying for a new dawn of peace and hope in the region,” says Rev. Dominic Jala, Archbishop of Shillong.
Spurred by the improvement in the law and order front, enterprising business people in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram are holding special Christmas dinners and parties by planning to rope in Indian and foreign DJs and music bands.
Special prayers would also be held on Christmas night at camps of militant groups in Nagaland. In Christian households, preparations for Christmas begin at least a month in advance. People get their homes whitewashed and indulge in spring cleaning of the house to give it a fresh new look. Ladies start preparations for the traditional Christmas cake, which is anxiously awaited not just by the entire family but also by the neighbors.
After all, the festival of Christmas is all about sharing, caring, hope and love.
Source -> Times of IndiaBorrowed from Times of India
Hmmm… whatever… i believe that just like d birthday hours….. d christmas eve and the Christmas day… whatever one wishes for sache mann se …. one gets….. 🙂 so be careful what you wish 4!
When my younger son was asked, at Sunday School, to write the names of the two most important people in his life at Christmas, he promptly wrote:
1. Santa Claus
2. Mummy
Then, perhaps, thinking of the repercussions of his admission No.2, he cancelled the second and wrote,
2. God
Okay, okay, I apologise. The myth of mummy and Santa Claus should never ever cloud the true spirit of Christmas, but try telling a five year old that! To most children, unless they are on the fast track to canonisation, Christmas is what Santa and their parents deliver. Period. And even when kids grow up and look up the elevator shaft (especially Indian kids in Mumbai who have never seen chimneys except in bakeries), wondering when Mr.Claus will turn up with his stockings, how many of us as parents have found the heart to say, “Sorry kid, there ain’t no Santa”? Even counsellors and psychologists are constantly confused and divided over the topic. Sometimes we’re told to get real. Tell them, tough luck kid, but it was your father who said ‘ho, ho, ho’ all these years. And just when we’re about to slather on some of that tough love act, there will be another school of thought going, ‘ho hum, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
As parents we want to preserve the magic of Christmas for our children as long as we can. And then some. Because in our hearts, we haven’t stopped believing in that magic either.
Even as the ‘disillusionment’ of a Santa-less life sets in, something else takes its place. I’ve seen it happen. It normally takes place on an open ground, when the air is crisp and the strains of Christmas carols fill up the dark night. And the church bells announce the arrival of yet another Christmas. It’s yet another Christmas to you and me, but to a kid who has just learnt to let go of her Christmas stocking, the midnight mass is his or her magic ground. It’s their mystical magical rites of Christmas.
Many of us who have attended the Midnight mass know the feeling. As grown ups we’ve read enough to know that the 25th December may not be the exact date of the Infant’s birth. It might well have been on the winter solstice on the 21st December. We know that Christmas trees and Mistletoes are mere trappings of the season but these are the touchy feely aspects of Christmas. The Midnight Mass to most of us is the ‘click’ that unleashes the spirit of the season within us. It’s a spiritual hug we get from the universe. And although the temperature is dipping, and the dew is giving us a mild headache, and there is a wrong note in the choir; for god’s sake will someone throttle the fake tenor, something is welling up inside us and setting us in the mood of the moment. It is the universal idea of Christmas, whether there is snow or dust where you live, whether you’re Christian or not. The mass, the rituals, the choir, the church bells, the simple sharing of cake and coffee, and then rushing home to open the presents which everyone from the 15 year old to the 50 year old have surreptitiously placed below the Christmas tree, it’s all part of the midnight magic, for us who have outgrown the notion of Santa Claus but retained the idea of St.Nicholas.
Wishing you all Merry Christmas…..
If any one heard the song [I’ve been listening to this song since yonder years 🙂 ]… by Don Moen…”God will make a way”…and has the lyrics…plz write in …. I’d email you the song:) on this lovely occasion….
God Give Us eyes this Christmas
To see the Christmas Star.
And give us ears to hear the song
of angels from afar
And, with our eyes and ears attuned
for a message from above,
Let “Christmas Angels” speak to us
of hope and faith and love
Hope to light our pathway
When the way ahead is dark,
Hope to sing through stormy days,
with the sweetness of the lark
Faith to trust in things unseen
and know beyond all seeing
That it is in our Fathers love
We live and have our being
And love to break down barriers
of color, race and creed,
Love to see and understand
and help all those in need.
Amen
Wishing you all Merry Christmas…..
If any one heard the song [I’ve been listening to this song since yonder years 🙂 ]… by Don Moen…”God will make a way”…and has the lyrics…plz write in …. I’d email you the song:) on this lovely occasion….
God Give Us eyes this Christmas
To see the Christmas Star.
And give us ears to hear the song
of angels from afar
And, with our eyes and ears attuned
for a message from above,
Let “Christmas Angels” speak to us
of hope and faith and love
Hope to light our pathway
When the way ahead is dark,
Hope to sing through stormy days,
with the sweetness of the lark
Faith to trust in things unseen
and know beyond all seeing
That it is in our Fathers love
We live and have our being
And love to break down barriers
of color, race and creed,
Love to see and understand
and help all those in need.
Amen
Wishing you all Merry Christmas…..
If any one heard the song [I’ve been listening to this song since yonder years 🙂 ]… by Don Moen…”God will make a way”…and has the lyrics…plz write in …. I’d email you the song:) on this lovely occasion….
God Give Us eyes this Christmas
To see the Christmas Star.
And give us ears to hear the song
of angels from afar
And, with our eyes and ears attuned
for a message from above,
Let “Christmas Angels” speak to us
of hope and faith and love
Hope to light our pathway
When the way ahead is dark,
Hope to sing through stormy days,
with the sweetness of the lark
Faith to trust in things unseen
and know beyond all seeing
That it is in our Fathers love
We live and have our being
And love to break down barriers
of color, race and creed,
Love to see and understand
and help all those in need.
Amen
NourishMySoul 
