Diwali nehi Christmas sahi

Remember how I said that I totally missed Diwali this year? But there was Christmas to be celebrated.

Being in the UK for the past 6 years, I have honestly not been able to understand the big deal about Christmas. In India it was more of a religious thing. I remember the nativity plays and the carol singing in school. Later I was more in tune with Christians going for midnight masses. Yes with a large number of expats coming back the malls in bigger cities started getting trees and hosting sales. 

In the UK it seems an entirely commercial event. The purchases start from September. There is a wild frenzy with 'Christmas adverts' and 'sale season'. I know it's a bit like Diwali in north or south India or Durga Puja in east. But come on we don't go berserk like this!

This year we did! We had Pumpki 's birthday party planned for the 26th of December, since 28th - her birth day was a working day. The 'party day' being boxing day - the official start of post Christmas sale was bang in the middle of a long weekend. People have plans. So we extended the invitation right in advance. K had a few out of town colleagues. I started getting on with the venue and catering.

Since it was a long weekend many had out of town vacations. Some had work related issues with year end release from projects. So K had a few dropouts. The venues and catering were also a bit difficult to get because of the holiday season. We took a leap of faith and decided to host the party at home. Since we were looking at a small gathering, we decided to cook at home and maybe get some of the items from restaurants. 

Weeks before the party I started fussing over the return gifts, the menu, the cutlery, the decorations, the attire and all the other details. Things got thrown a bit off balance with the chicken pox season hitting the family. With K and Pumpki contracting it a couple of weeks before the party, things seemed more doubtful. Thankfully a speedy recovery was on track. 

Two days before the party the frenzied cooking started. There were numerous trips to the town centre and supermarkets to get this and that. Sticky tape, tumblers, gift bags - no matter how much one plans there are still the last minute dashes.

We had a quiet party with few of K 's closest friends. It was really lovely. I totally enjoyed Christmas. I totally got the fuss. If I was having panic attacks  planning a party with a few people and deciding the return  gifts for a few children - imagine the stress of organising one for your whole family with gifts, food and what not! 

I had a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas. The best thing was I could celebrate the little one's birthday within my maternity break. Here is hoping to make the most of my last week before work. Wow time......  Where does it go?