December 25 is the Day of Christmas, a day of
celebration with universal appeal, and it is so good to feel so about it.
In fact, it should be so with all major festivities
of all religions across the faiths, across the adherences, across the societies,
across the countries, across the religions – the way Christmas has become - a
day to cherish humanity – to celebrate the season with the joy of
coming-together – after all, festivities are as much there to give us the
window to put our routine day-to-day life aside and come together to enjoy some
quality, free time, to meet our other ‘self’, to recreate, to socialize – as much
as they are for religious observances – the ‘recreational’ aspect of a festival
and its religious facet.
The recreational aspect, the human psychology of celebrating
festivals, is common to the civilizations, across the religions but the religious
facets create forced and psychological walls to make festivals exclusive to their
respective religions.
Religion is the tool relentlessly used by opinion
leaders, leaders, monarchs, dictators and even elected leaders to divide
humanity into endless chasms, closeting the mindsets to restrict them to see
the logic, to question the doctrines, to feel free to choose the religion, to
freely practice the religion including the right to reject it.
Religion and thus faith is supposed to be intimate to
an individual – the way it is practised and the way one perceives others practising his and other religions.
Sadly it is not so.
The Crusades, the inter-religious wars,
expansionism of empires in the name of religions, exploitation of humanity in
the name of religion – the wars to establish the supremacy of this religion or
that - the practices are as old as the human civilization – and are still deep
rooted to inflict the maximum effect/damage.
And it makes universality of Christmas even more
important.
It is not pushed. It is not forced. It is not about
imposing Christianity. It is, rather, about celebrating the universality of the
‘recreational’ elements of festivals.
It is celebrated in my home. It is celebrated at my
work place. It is celebrated in my neighbourhood. It is celebrated in cities across
India. It is celebrated across countries. It is celebrated even in many Muslim
countries.
And with a youthful spirit, bathed in the joy kids draw
from it, irrespective of what religion says about it.
Christmas is now, more or less, a global festival,
sans its religious elements. Yes, for the followers, the religion and its observances
are very much there. But its joy, that is routine human and doesn't require one
to know Christian ideals and Bible Psalms, has transcended spontaneously across
societies, from Christians to non-Christians.
Kids love it. Youngsters love it. Adults love to
live the joy of it. And they don’t do it because of any religious influence or
religious pull. They don’t know about Christmas more than what their textbooks
have told them, yet they live and share the joy of it.
They do it for the joy that its ‘recreational’
aspect brings – holidays, reunion of family and friends, Christmas carols and
music of the season, the rhythm of multitudes with the fair and lights of midnight
Mass and the legend of Santa Claus - and for the season that transitions us to the next
year – the New Year.
Santa Clause has become of every religion. He is
the symbolism of the good, the child, and the innocent in all of us. He, along
with Christmas carols, makes for the spontaneous connect with the non-religious
aspect of Christmas for non-Christians.
Singing, dancing, rhyming, celebrating, enjoying
life, with all coming together – that is the universal appeal of Christmas -
and it doesn't require any religious sanction – even if, ideally, religion has/should have nothing to do if I celebrate Christmas or Eid.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
:)