Nehemiah Rong
Winter season is almost synonymous with a festive season or celebration time. All the post harvest festivals fall in winter. Most of the conferences, sports meet too fall in winter. Christmas is also falling in winter in our land. Trade fairs, beauty pageants, etc. all find their berth during chilly season in the context of our society. As a social being, human beings quintessentially need social events. All social events need not be essential for the human development yet many of them are. Some social events are for recreation, commemoration, dedication and provocation of deities etc.
During the days of ancient Greek too we can observe that annual sports event existed which now has given rise to the worlds most important event called ‘Olympic’. Likewise in ancient times our society too from the head hunting days in the midst of hostilities, festivities were not absent. Popular festival or ‘Feast of Merit’ are mostly held in winter fall. Winter is a cold period and dry season, a period of rest and relaxation from harvest. May be a good time for celebration.
As Christianity dawned in, our society like the old wine was put in the new cup and this time with new dimension and meaning. Whole month of December is spent in preparation for Christmas and Pre-Celebration of it before the real celebration. May be many are busy, caught up in preparation and celebration and even might forget that Christmas is the commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ, who was born in Bethlehem to seek and save the lost. Christmas night is campfire time for many of us. Dancing and partying, dining and wining after hanging out the whole night, with drowsy eyes next morning, waking up with high hangover heavily on the head.
With rock music blasting from stereotypes, the song “Silent Night, Holy Night is almost done away with, ‘Noisy Night, Ghostly Night’. With modern gizmos and gimmick we are more entertained then enlightened.
Family picnics, colony picnics, friendship picnic, club picnic, etc. picnicking is taking place everywhere near the riverbanks, hillocks, valleys, gardens etc. It is really a gala time to enjoy. Picnickers are like rat pipers. Behind their backs the plastic cups, plates and what not are left like those mice behind the rat pipers. Pardon to quote a thought that I forgot where I came across and who quoted it but here it is, ‘Celebration without pollution, all the picnickers must remember’.
Modernity gave rise to grandiosity. Fashion shows beauty contest line up in the calendar of the winter season. In the wintry night one has to walk the ramp with what so called modern round etc. Beauty is skin deep is now redefined with beauty with brains. Now, the wannabe beauty queens cannot always focus on their appearance alone but somehow somewhere they must at least study some most likely questions otherwise they will be disqualified.
Celebration time is a time for blasting our stereotypes and CD players. The Alice(s) living next door to you may have loud sound phobia. Or may be little Miss Muffet(s) must be busy studying her books for exam. Music lovers need to take little care of ‘The Alice(s)’ and ‘Little Miss Muffet(s)’ too. You may want to have a “Rock Fiesta” during celebration time but little bit of courtesy can calm your campus.
Sports meet at inter tribe levels, intra tribe levels etc. put another hustle and bustle time for the parents and students during the winter fall. All day of work without a play makes Tom a dull boy. It is also worth pondering that trying to be a master of everything becomes a master of none. Which one to choose, Study or Sports, Education or Entertainment? Education comprises of healthy sports activities and entertainment as well. But iron is to be hit when it is hot. Winter is a study time for many students who are sports lovers. Is participating in such Sports meets a career making or just a passion seeking?
These are parts of living and celebration in our society. It gives rise to the word ‘culture’ of festivities. Healthy celebration is indeed needed in any society. As we are all aware that excess of anything becomes negative. It is wintertime, a celebration time, and merry-making time. If Christmas celebration is being removed from the chilly winter season then it will be a great loss to many factories- bakeries, card factories garments shop etc.
The greater loss will be for the whole humanity. It will be a dry boring winter days with cracked lips, hands and legs without Christmas and also no cards to write and gifts to send to dear and near ones, no carols to sing. It will be totally an unimaginable boring episode and life altogether will be meaningless without Christmas at least for the Christian Community. If the begotten son of Father was not born out of that virgin woman two thousand years ago then the world history would never be as it is now. Winter without Christmas will be a boring one and Christmas without that Child of Bethlehem is altogether meaningless. Yes! Folks it’s a celebration time. Merry Christmas! Dear valued readers.
