White Europeans dream of a White Christmas, as the old Christmas carol goes, with snow all around, to give them that Christmassy feeling. The same Europeans who have migrated to Australia in the southern hemisphere, where it is summer at Christmas time, reportedly create artificial snow, or use cotton wool to get the Christmas “effect”!
But there was nothing white about the original Christmas, when the Lord Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem in what was Palestine (and still was till its occupation by Israel in 1967). Jesus was born into a Semitic race, who are brown in colour and having black hair; not the rosy pink cheeks and curly golden locks of artistic licence.
We brown Indians may have to celebrate a black Christmas this year, because Modi’s “surgical strike” to eradicate black money has left a “black hole” of nothingness in most peoples’ pockets. I was supposed to attend a Christmas dinner in New Delhi hosted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India this 13th December. The dense fog and interminable train delays botched my plans.
Sri Arun Jaitley, our Finance Minister, was the Chief Guest at the dinner. I was sorely tempted to ask him to make a special concession for Christians at Christmas time, to allow us to withdraw extra cash from the banks, to avoid a black out. I am a businessman whose maximum sale is at Christmas. Hence I would have had a further vested interested in asking Jaitley for the concession. However, my conscience did not permit me, for the very simple reason that I do not see Christmas as a “celebration”; cards, cakes and candles notwithstanding.
For me Christmas is a commemoration. Rabindranath Tagore had said that every child that is born is a sign of hope, that God loves the world. That greatest gift of love may be experienced in the birth of Jesus. Christians like me believe that he came into this world to reconcile man with God, to bring all to salvation and eternal bliss.
What of millions of my fellow Indians who may not see Jesus in that light? Does Christmas have any message for them – be it black, brown or white? The message is to be found in the dramatis personae associated with the nativity scene.
There is the young woman Mary, bearing the pain of childbirth for the benefit (gain) of others; unlike the present dispensation that inflicts pain on the common man for its own political gain. Then there is Joseph, a simple man who did not quite grasp the portents of what was unfolding, but stood steadfast as a pillar of strength for his young wife. There were angels proclaiming peace to all persons of goodwill (not just to Christians, or those who may have believed in Jesus). There were the hard working shepherds, guarding their flocks against the cold and predators. The constant searching of the Wise Men of the East led them too to Bethlehem.
At the other extreme there was Herod, the reigning Jewish king, who felt threatened. His throne was shaking, so he decided to kill all the newborn male children, to protect his own vested interest.
This Christmas will not be black or white, depending on the colour of our skin, or the source of our money. White is the fusion of all colours, and black is the absence of all colours. Let us then strive for a different White Christmas, with a fusion of all colours – the sacrifice of Mary, the trust of Joseph, the hard work of the shepherds, the seeking after truth of the Wise Men, and the promotion of peace and harmony in all mankind. If, however, we have only our own selfish interests, or “celebrations” at heart, like that of Herod, then we are destined for a black Christmas. The choice is ours.
CHRISTMAS 2016
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