Merry Christmas from us!

(Pic of the three kings from our crib at home)

The Christmas Lunch

I'm pleased to report that Christmas lunch was a hit.

A simple menu, lots of tasty food, and good company - that's all you need for a succesful party. We had the ingredients in spades.

Our Indo-British menu (!) was quick and easy to prepare - with a little help from the Namesake.

Here's what we had:

Salad

Raita

Giant Roast Chicken (7 lb!) with stuffing

Peas Pulao

Chole

Traditional Christmas Brussel Sprouts

Reinforcements arrived from India in the form of a small roast chicken (lots of spicy stuffing), pork and sweets! A&P brought starters, wine, bread and other bits. We shall put this down to everybody's generosity and not as a reflection of our cooking!

With all that variety, people were bound to be happy at the end of it.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy :)

The table set for six.

The Giant Roast Chicken

Chole

Traditional Xmas Brussel Sprouts

Reinforcements from India:

- A small roast chicken

- Pork

(Thanks, Mom!)

(and everybody else!)

Naughty or Nice, track Santa here

If you're wondering where Santa has reached in his journey this year,track his progress here:

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.htm

Not so charitable Christmas cards

From the UK Fundraising site comes a report that confirms what some of us already knew:

The Irish Times found that in most cases it was impossible to tell from the cards what the return was to charity. Two exceptions were Marks and Spencer cards sold in Ireland, which is giving 10 per cent of the sales price to Focus Ireland, and Debenhams, which is giving 20 per cent to the ISPCC.

Not surprisingly, buying cards directly from the charity gives a much larger percentage to the charity. The Irish Cancer Society says 80 per cent of revenues goes to their organisation if people buy directly from them but as little is 10 per cent if people buy their cards from Boots.

An umbrella group, Irish Charity Cards, says 25 per cent of their revenues go to
seven charities. The ICC is not in favour of putting the direct return to charity on the card as is the case in the UK because large card producers have greater economies of scale.

An Post says Irish people will send 110 million cards this year.

Full link: http://www.fundraising.co.uk/ireland/news/8698

If you want to buy charity Christmas cards go to http://www.studio51.com/ . This great company gives 51p for every £1 you spend on their cards. Available only online to cut costs, here is a company that helps charities raise funds at no cost to them or their supporters.

In a recent news item, Studio 51 MD Alan Hawkes says :
"Charities get around £10-15 million a year and that is just plain disappointing when more than £100 million a year is currently spent on charity Christmas cards in the UK. That figure should be – and could be – around £20 to £30 million by Christmas 2012."

"It's easy to buy a box of so-called 'charity' cards in the high street and that is all many people do, even though charities get such a poor deal out of the arrangement. And of course many people don't buy charity cards at all."

Hawkes says that attitude must change. "I want buying charity cards to be so normal that if you receive a Christmas card from a friend or relative and there is no charity donation attached, you'll be saying something like: "I can't believe cousin John didn’t send charity cards this year."

He advises people to buy cards direct from a charity to ensure most of the money goes to that charity. His company provides a service to those charities which don't have the time or resources to set up a retail operation.

See a list of the 'Meanest Christmas Cards retailers' here.

What are you waiting for? Send some Studio51 cards today!

PS: If you want a charity recommendation, choose this one.
PPS: I don't work for the company nor do I have a stake in it. My charity benefits from any purchases attributed to us, but you are free to choose any charity of your choice. Really.

It's Chrysmas time!

The twin cherry blossom trees at the entrance of the drive have shed their leaves completely. Any left on the pavement have also been blown away by the strong wind we have been seeing lately. It's rained throughout the night and this morning we have had bouts of heavy Mumbai-monsoon-type rain alternating with thunder, drizzles, reluctant sunshine and gray clouds. And it is not even 11 am yet.

Mr R is at work, even though he's battling a fever. I, on the other hand, do what I do on my beloved Fridays - write, clean and put my life back into order for the coming week. I was meant to go down to the town centre, but with inconsistent weather like this, I am still 'thinking' about it. In the meantime, there's notes to be made, the vacuum to be used, an overnight bag to be packed.

The Cherry Blossoms may be bare, but spring is in my step today. It's Chrysmas time!

Chrysmas arrives at Trafalgar Square

The Oslo Boys Choir with Sissel, the Norwegian singer belting out carols in English and Norwegian.
The National Gallery at Trafalgar Square
The Norwegian Tree being lit by the Mayor of Oslo.

An artsy shot of the fountains at Trafalgar Square with the church of St Martins in the field in the background - courtesy Mr R

The War on Christmas

Apparently, celebrating Christmas is now politically incorrect. Or making a big hullabaloo about it, atleast. We are now supposed to wish people "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Offices and other organizations worry about putting the 'C' word on their December newsletters for fear of hurting the sentiments of non-Christians. Playing carols in secular workplaces at this time is frowned upon. Celebrating the birth of Christ has suddenly acquired sinister political overtones, almost accusing the Christian world of forcing the rest into joining in the celebrations.

Which is all rubbish, ofcourse. You, I and the man on the street know that this is a concoction by people who have nothing better to do (read politicians). Why should the minorities in England feel threatened by a timeless festival? So what if it is so commercialized? Does having Christmas Cards and carols are in shops in October mean that minorities feel slighted or hurt? It's absurd. But then that's what this world has become. Absurd.

Can you imagine this happening in India? The "minorities" celebrate their festivals (and that of the "majority" community) with equal fervor and gusto. Can you imagine a toned down Diwali or Ganesh Chaturti just because the Muslims, Christians and Parsis might feel bad about the scale of the celebrations?

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

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I spent the better part of an afternoon looking for Christmas cards with images depicting the Nativity. All I could find, however, was oodles of glitzy cards with Christmas trees, Santa's or words like NOEL or Merry Christmas printed on them. No sign of images of the Nativity itself or anything remotely related to the event. It's fashionable not to be 'religious'.

Finally found one which had a drawing of the three wise men. That would have to do for now.

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Mr R & I braved cold winds and freezing temperatures to stand in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday evening to watch the traditional lighting of the Christmas tree. The Trafalgar tree is Norway's 'thank you' to England for her help in the second World War. Each year, since 1947, a tree in Oslo is chosen by the Lord Mayor of Westminster and then shipped to London where the lights are lit by the Mayor of Oslo in a ceremony full of pomp and music.

This year, the Oslo Boys Choir were accompanied by Sissel, a Norwegian singer who also features on the 'Titanic' soundtrack. The choir of St Martin in the fields, a brass band and mini-bells wrapped up the program. It was wonderful listening to carols in English and Norwegian, even though we couldn't feel our toes and fingers by the time the ceremony started.

For me, that is what Christmas is all about - braving all difficulties and hardships and yet finding the strength to celebrate the birth of Christ.

To all those who look at only the vast sums of money being spent on the festivities, I say leave that critical eye aside for a moment and just enjoy the feeling of joy that surrounds this month. You can feel it, even with the credit card debt and the demands on your time and wallet. You really can.

Merry Christmas everybody. No apologies here for saying it, and meaning it.

Let the Mayhem begin

I had an article accepted today for a magazine launching here in January.

That's always news good enough to warm up the coldest autumn days - which, incidentally, these are.

Mr R spends time each morning defrosting the windscreen so he can get to work. This morning we woke to a fine layer of white on leaves, roof tops and window sills.

This evening, our town officially 'launches' Christmas. At 6.45 pm, the Christmas lights will be lit by the Mayor ending an afternoon of parades, fun-fairs and merry making on the High Street. Christmas, folks, is here. Get ready for the mayhem.

A touch of Frost

It's our first morning of frost today.

Mr. R left for work this morning only to find the car windows frozen with ice. Getting the windows de-iced enough to be able to drive delayed him a bit. To think that this will be a daily task and will steadily get worse...

The kitchen clock tells me that the temperature is 9.9 Deg C while the clock next to the laptop says 17 Deg C. That's minimum and maximum, I guess. Maybe the thermometer's frozen too.

Happy Monday everybody. Time to get to work.

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For the past two weeks, we've had a hectic social life what with relatives on Mr.R's side visiting. It has been a fun filled two weeks with people staying over and a gala concert (Mr R's orchestra celebrated 10 years - we had 10 people rooting for Mr R in the audience : F's parents from Spain, an Austrian penfriend of a friend and 7 people from all across the UK - Leeds, Shropshire and London).

It's Christmas season and the carols are out in full swing. Our town Christmas lights will be lit on Thursday after a gala parade and entertainment in the town centre. It's a lovely feeling listening to the old favorites everywhere you go - it's like being in a sudden time warp. Christmas is that time of the year here that makes you nostalgic for good old days and prompts you to keep in touch with long lost family and friends. You even feel like being nice to your co-workers :)

If you can ignore the displays in shop windows and leave your wallet at home, you'll be able to enjoy the ambience even more!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

September has barely begun and Christmas cards are already out in the shops here. Before we know it, autumn will be here (in a few days, actually) and it'll be time for the clocks to turn back.

Even though December is still a while away, Santa is on his way here. My baby brother (all grown up now) has a new job with BA as flight crew. He's coming over this weekend on a month long training with 35 others from good ol' Mumbai. Here's a chance for me to order things I want or miss - like Close Up Red Toothpaste. It's funny how we miss things we are used to - here I am in the heart of the European world, with access to the most fabulous paste's ever invented and I long for Close Up. Nothing that I have tried here has the same freshness and taste. HLL, you should start exporting this to the UK atleast :)

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Living in the UK is great, but there are some things, some basic services that I miss. Like vegetable vendors, cobblers on the street corner, the istri-wallah who picks up the laundry from your house, irons it and returns it (mostly) the next day, the egg-wallah , the bread-man and the paper-wallah who have a door delivery service. And sometimes you need the raddi-wallah, the knife grinder, the bhelpuri-wallah and the garage mechanics on every road.

For now though, one has to learn to live with picking up veggies and stuff on the weekly shopping expedition to the supermarket. There are no cobblers around. Old shoes in good condition are given to charity shops or go to shoe-heaven. Same goes for old bottles and paper - deposit it in the recycling bins at every supermarket. The paper bins are also emptied once a week outside your doorstep - there's no excuse not to recycle. You pick up your newspaper along with the bread and eggs at the supermarket and do your own laundry because it is cheaper to buy an outfit than to get it dry-cleaned. If your car breaks down you have to call a fixed breakdown service (which you pay for along with your insurance) and have it taken to a fixed service station that deals with the make of your car. It may be miles away from where you are, but that's the way it is.

Here the seasons are distinct, each with its own unique feel to it. In Mumbai, as my dear teacher used to say, we have only two seasons : Hot and Very Hot. Happy Teacher's Day to all you teachers!

And on that note, it's time to go to work - walk down to the town centre and catch a bus up the hill and walk back downhill and then uphill to get home. A far cry from leaving home at 0730 to take a bus/rickshaw to the station, jump into the 0759 Churchgate local (packed coming from Virar), walking to work and then reversing the same route back reaching home after 8 pm(though I have never dared to take a Virar bound local from Churchgate back home - there's no way the ladies mafia at the door will let you get off at your station).

There are some things one just doesn't miss.

Have a safe journey, all of you who still go through hell and back just to get to work.

Good tidings to all!

Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness.To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart.To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." - Oren Arnold

To all my friends - online and off, here's wishing you a very Merry and Happy Chrysmas. May your shopping bags be heavy and your credit card bill light :)

The next few days/weeks are going to be the busiest ever - with Christmas, NY, a wedding, guests, packing ..... my shoulder's ache for a massage, and it's only 7 pm (and I've still got to go for a b'day party now..)

So, people, incase I don't log on in the next few days what with the mad rush around, do remember to keep your sanity intact till the New Year! Stay away from all those sweets and you won't have to worry about fitting into your clothes in January! BMC is looking for karate experts for its demolition drive, so that may also be a good way to keep fit :) And yes, the Marathon's just round the corner too!

So, Merry Chrysmas and a very Happy 2005 to all of you! May this year bring you all that you wish and dream of! See you soon!