Religion no bar for Xmas revelry

KOLKATA: Park Street may grab the spotlight during the festive season. But there are several pockets of the city, like Tangra, Doctor's Lane, and Suresh Sarkar Road in central Kolkata, and Behala in the south, that have also decked up for the festival. With the lanes and bylanes of these areas lit up and brightly decorated, these localities will come alive during the festival.
Come Christmas, the sleepy Dr Suresh Sarkar Road in Entally springs to life. With elaborate decorations, lighting and music, the residents here get together to make merry. In fact, Christmas decoration in the last few years was not as elaborate as it used to be at this time of the year. Many youngsters of these localities who work abroad could not make it to the city. But this time, most are back in town and they are making up for last year's loss.
"We have been celebrating Christmas in the locality since 1960. This time around we want to make the best of the festival as some of were not around last year. The celebration will go on till the first week of January," said Martin Gomes who works as a chef in Dubai.
Even as the number of families from the community is far less that the number of families from other communities, religion is no bar when it comes to celebrating christmas. There are just about 15 Christian families in Dr Suresh Sarkar Road while Doctor's Lane has just about 20 families. In fact, youngsters like Mahant Shaw, Anand Prasad and Laloo Shaw have not only been chipping in with fund but leading from the front for decoration on Dr Suresh Sarkar Road.
"There are more Hindus than Christians in Doctor's Lane. But everyone here is a part of the celebration. It is the beauty of the locality," said Augustine D'Costa.
"We will be in the para during the entire week starting from Christmas to be a part of the celebration here. Last year many who work abroad could not come back. But this year most have come home. So we will make more merry this time," said Parash Nath Mallik of Doctor's Lane. The likes of Mallik and Raju Rao will attend the Midnight Mass and visit the church on Christmas along with friends from the other community.
Planning and preparation had already started weeks ahead. The celebration mood was in the air from Friday afternoon with music being blared in these localities.
"With the paras decked up like a new bright, it is a beautiful home coming during the Christmas. I could not make it last year, therefore I plan to make the most the festival this year," said Ignatius L D'Costa (a catering supervisor in Oman).
Parts in Behala, Thakurpukur and James Long Sarani too are brightly illuminated and decorated during this festival. There is a sizable number of families from the community who leave no stone unturned to make the most of the festival. And giving an equal participation is the neighbours from the other communities. Tangra, too, has its own share of the celebration, with the Chinese community doing up the place with elaborate decorations.