Christmas Presence

Catching up with the thoughts in my head is getting a little easier now...

Just yesterday, I had this fantastic idea of wanting to take a flight to Delhi and get away for the weekend, went online looked for tickets for Goa instead...is there something insanely wrong.... nah... 2 weeks to Goa and I am still wondering if I really really want to go.

This year Christmas is going to be different... I am starting a new year of my life with a completely new experience, should I be excited... well... I guess YES!! what is missing is the familiarity of my Christmas in Delhi.

Midnight mass at Cathedral with the regulars... well ... most of us meet  twice a year... Easter Mass and  Christmas mass... what is so beautiful... are the warmest hugs and the wonderful conversation... there is a sense of completeness. Its mighty cold in Delhi on the 24th night...

The first sound you hear while entering the cathedral compound is the strains of the choir... and for the fact that it was once all of us singing in the cold, we've changed and so has the choir... and whoever said we are good sports is wrong... we find fault in almost every song, its either too shrill or too loud or too something or the other, the truth is... at Christmas is when we most miss being in the choir... its such an uplifting experience... memories are witness of the fantastic time we've spent singing... getting our vocal chords trained and letting every word hold its own. Gasper & Fr. Paul... brilliant!!! The mass format has changed, certain parts seem commercial, the sermons are politically correct, the love is genuine... and the most special part... well... "Peace be with you"... atleast that is my favouritest part of the mass... it is simply uplifting to turn to just about anyone you can see and wish them the same.

Midnight mass ends with a huge hug to the family, ensuring that they are the first ones you wish... that is before the cellphone begs to be wished too and noticed. Then comes the social networking time... often conversations focus on the freezing temperature and the number of people diminishing for midnight mass... and well... phone  numbers are exchanged over coffee and cake... and promises to keep in touch... are made... smiled at... and then we figure... well... we'll meet for Easter midnight mass :)

While we're busy doing our chatting bit, we all also want to get home soon. There's a tree surrounded with Christmas presents waiting to be opened... there is cake waiting to be cut ... and we're hoping we didn't forget to ensure that there is enough milk for all of us. The drive home, is all about the goss we'd just been a part of, the conversations with long lost church pals and the sermon of course, which every year has something really special or spooky.

This year may not be the same... this year... there isn't cake being made... or a tree being decorated back home... this year has been a year of many changes... I changed city... changed profession... changed focus... and in the flurry of change... well I guess I forgot to check and see what else is changing. So, it looks like I am going to Goa for Christmas... and I so believe its going to be really special.

There is a new experience waiting to unfold... Goa... here I come :D