Christmas Carols and the spirit of giving- take over Madurai

With Christmas and the festive fervour taking over the city, the air reverberating with carols these days. Intrestingly, People from different walks of life are given a chance to sing in the carols organised by colleges, churches and private choirs in Madurai. Men and women clad in bright overcoats and gowns crooning lovely mellifluous songs in English, Tamil and even in some other European languages have become the talk of the town among the young and old alike here in the city.Many churches in and around Madurai have been done up beautifully, and people congregated here to the carols.
Lady Doak College(LDC) celebrated its annual carol service with the theme 'love and give' at the GJ Auditorium in the college. The service was replete with traditional and contemporary Christmas carols sung by the college choir. The faculty, students and non-teaching staff gave special numbers in English and Tamil. The children of the faculty enthralled the audience with a lively Christmas medley. Ten songs in all were sung at the carol service while the choir strenght was around sixty members.
A German song, In Dulci Jubilo by R.L Pearsall, was added for the first time said P. Esther Elizabeth Grace, one of the choirmasters in the carol. A. Jerusha, president of the student carol said, “we had practice sessions for last one month which made us sing our best today.” The choir even had some non-Christian students in the carol which displayed the inclusivity in the event. Surya Prabha, a second-year student from the English literature department was the one who played the violin for the choir. She said, “this is the first time I am performing in a carol service and I learnt violin just a year ago at the center for music at Lady Doak College.” Students were seen in lovley attires and many took selies near the Christmas trees that glittered with LED lightings after the carol services.
A day after the event at LDC, the Christmas vibes caught up with the American College as a grand carol service with Candle lights was organised at the College Chapel. You don’t need a big singing prowess all you need is a basic understanding of the song and to sing in tandem with the choir says Christopher Sherwood, Choir director of American college and retired Head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy Department in the college. The 68-year-old professor is much known for combining some old classic Tamil songs with carol songs and many love to hear his song in the carol. P.Divakaran, another choir director in the college and guitar player of the choir said, “ we normally go with four parts of harmony and some traditional music which is much easier to learn and pleasing to hear.” V. Harini, a final year English literature student in the college is a part of the choir said, “Many think carol services are restricted to Christians, but I am singing in carol for the last six years as I have already sung in Carol during my school days.” The majority of the choirs are composed of young singers as people refrain themselves from singing after a certain age, opined Christopher.
Divakaran and his group of friends have a private carol service called 'Noel Opus', predominantly singing in churches and in various neighborhoods in the city. They have been doing this for the last twenty years. "We reach individuals through carol service and the money collected after the carol is given to orphanages around Madurai," he says.