Category: Festive Special

Categories
Festive Special

Goodwill and Peace on Christmas

Nativity of Christ, painted in the Mughal empire, around 1800 AD

“The central celebration is the birth of a child. There is no culture that does not celebrate this event, because all of us who belong to the human race can see our collective future in the pudgy little face. We marvel at this conjuring act, the miniature miracle, at its tiny fingernails and budlike nose.” — Jerry Pinto, Indian Christmas: Essays, Memoirs, Hymns, an anthology edited by Jerry Pinto and Madhulika Liddle

Christmas centres around the birth of a child who impacted a large part of the world and urged us to love others despite differences, to be kind, to embrace those who suffered… and that is the spirit that continues to unite humankind to move towards a future where people thrive in harmony, with love in their hearts. Despite all the darkness that broods over the world, Christmas has come around. The sun still moves forward in time and at some point, the darkness will give way to light. Perhaps, Christmas will remind people of the values they need to uphold to live in a world that is not filled with fear, greed or the lust for power and they will stop killing ruthlessly and without any sense of coherence. With that in mind, we have tried to evoke the spirit of Christmas cheer by presenting writings that talk of celebrations.

This is a season that should be filled with hope, goodwill, peace and love. The celebrations — depicting variety, a departure from conventional norms — by writers who reach across borders and time, rekindle our belief in the wonder created by these values, which is what Christmas is all about. We start with Tagore, a Brahmo by religion but his poem in English dwells on the wonder he feels at the idea of this unique birth of Christ. Our other writers from across the world pitch in with what Christmas means to all of them, whether it creates a sense of goodwill, nostalgia, invokes curiosity or just evokes plain laughter. Hopefully, we can all join together to ring the bells of kindness, love, humanitarian help and peace this year!

Poetry

An excerpt from Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘The Child‘ a poem originally written in English by the poet to celebrate Christmas. Click here to read.

One Star by Ihlawha Choi. Click here to read.

Christmas Cheer by Malachi Edwin Vethamani. Click here to read.

Prose

Indian Christmas: Essays, Memoirs, Hymns, an anthology edited by Jerry Pinto and Madhulika Liddle has been discussed by Somdatta Mandal. Click here to read.

In I Went to Kerala, Rhys Hughes treads a humorous path while exploring Christmas in Kerala. Click here to read.

In Hold the Roast Turkey Please Santa , Keith Lyons writes from New Zealand, where summer solstice and Christmas fall around the same time. Click here to read.

In My Christmas Eve “Alone”, Erwin Coomb has a strange encounter on Christmas eve… Is it real? Click here to read. 

Nativity, a fresco by Italian artist Boticelli, created around 1467
Categories
Festive Special

Lighting Lamps of Love

Light of mine, O light, the universe is filled with your effulgence, 
My heart is yours; my eyes drown in your refulgence. 
…. 
The sky awakens, the breeze flits, the Earth laughs. 
As luminous currents surge, thousands of butterflies take flight. 

— Aalo Amar Aalo (Light, My Light), Bichitra, 1911, Rabindranath Tagore

There was a time when lights were a part of joy and celebrations as in Tagore’s poem above. Lighting lamps, people welcomed home their beloved prince Rama on Deepavali, who returned after a fourteen year exile, and during his banishment, killed the demonic Ravana. On the same day in Bengal, lamps were lit to ward off evil and celebrate the victory of Kali, (the dark woman goddess wooed by Tantrics) over the rakshasa, Raktabeeja. In the Southern part of India, lamps were lit to celebrate the victory of Krishna over Narakasura. The reasons could be many but lights and fireworks were lit to celebrate the victory of good over evil during the festival of lights.

In the current world with lines blurred between good and evil, while climate crises seeks smoke free, coal free energy, flames of fire or fireworks are often frowned upon. In these times, we can only hope to light the lamp of love — so that differences can be settled amicably without killing the helpless and innocent, infact without violence, greed, peacefully and with kindness, keeping in mind the safety of our species and our home, the Earth. We invite you to partake of our content, writings that light the lamp of love — 

Poetry

I Gather Words by Shareefa Beegam P P. Click here to read.

The Language of Dreams by Sister Lou Ella Hickman: Click here to read.

Dreams are like Stars by Mitra Samal: Click here to read.

At Teotihuacan by Jonathan Chan: Click here to read.

Love Poetry by Gayatri Majumdar: Click here to read.

Today’s Child by Atta Shad, translated from Balochi by Fazal Baloch: Click here to read.

Endless Love, Ananto Prem (Endless Love) by Tagore, translated from Bengali by Professor Fakrul Alam. Click here to read.

Prose

Hena: a short story about love and war by Nazrul, has been translated from Bengali by Sohana Manzoor. Click here to read.

Annapurna Bhavan: Lakshmi Kannan closes class divides in Chennai over a meal. Click here to read.

Rituals in the Garden: Marcelo Medone discusses motherhood, aging and loss in this poignant flash fiction from Argentina. Click here to read.

The Tree of Life: An unusual flash fiction by Parnil Yodha about a Tibetan monk. Click here to read.

Adoption: A poignant real life story by Jeanie Kortum on adopting a child. Click here to read.

The Potato Prince: A funny but poignant love story by Sohana Manzoor. Click here to read.

A Taste of Bibimbap & More: G Venkatesh revisits the kindness he that laced his travels within Korea. Click here to read. 

Therese Schumacher and Nagayoshi Nagai: A Love Story: Suzanne Kamata introduces us to one of the first German women married to a Japanese scientist and their love story. Click here to read.