Memories of my year end celebrations

I hope each one of you had a fantastic Christmas and New Year celebrations and we sure have greeted the New Year with lots of hopes and aspirations.

Each year when I celebrate these festivities my mind goes back to my past days when I used to celebrate with family and friends. Those were the days!!!

I wish to share with everyone some key things those were the highlights of my Christmas and New Year during those yesteryears.

Holy Mass: Back home in India we have midnight mass for Christmas and New Year. The church would be beautifully decorated and would be full of people both young and old. The mass would end at about midnight. We would then wish each other and cherish the sliced cake that would be distributed by the church on these occasions. Bursting of crackers would herald the onset of the celebrations.

Church Celebrations: Christmas and New Year means a lot of celebrations at the Church. Different weekends would be reserved for celebrations of different kinds. The Sunday school kids, women’s movement, youth movement etc would form one group. There would be another big celebration on the following weekend wherein churches from different denominations would participate. There would be beautiful songs by the choir, sermons, some stage performances etc. The true spirit of Christmas reflects in these celebrations. One of the main attractions, especially with the kids, would be the arrival of Santa Claus. Santa would distribute sweets and the kids would go crazy.

Celebrations at home: Variety of foods, guests, decorations etc would be the highlights of the home celebrations. This is the season for near and dear ones to come together and celebrate together. When the Christmas Carol band would arrive at our home it would create a lot of excitement especially with our non Christian neighbors. All and all it’s a wonderful season to be back home.

Christmas and New Year is the time to be thankful and joyful for all the blessings throughout the year and to be with our near and dear ones. I am looking forward to more such Christmas and New Year celebrations in the future. 

Wishing you and your family a Happy and Prosperous 2009!!!

My Thanksgivings!!!

Another Thanksgiving is around the corner. Another Black Friday is just a few days away. Turkey, Mashed potatoes, cranberry, pumpkin pie... yummy. Its going to be a treat for the eyes and jubilation for the tongue and probably some more hours at the fitness center for many.

As I think about my Thanksgiving this year, I go back three years when I heard about Thanksgiving. It all started in 2005 when I came to US. I had no clue what Thanksgiving was. The first Thanksgiving night was spent on bagging the Black Friday deals at various consumer electronic shops. We fought the chilling cold to stand in line at these stores and we were pretty happy that we could get some good deals.

The next year I decided not to go for any shopping in the cold but tried some online deals. I had some friends come over and we celebrated our simple Thanksgiving.

I enjoyed a real Thanksgiving meal in 2007 when one of my family friends invited me over for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was just awesome. I tasted home made Turkey for the first time and I kind of liked it. It was a gathering of friends and families which is the true spirit of Thanksgiving.

As we prepare to celebrate this Thanksgiving, I decided to put some thinking about the things that I should be thankful for. 

First and foremost I am thankful to God for the career opportunities that I got this year. Its been rough times and I am thankful that I still have a good job amidst these difficult circumstances. 

I am thankful for being was able to visit India (especially Kerala) this year. It was a wonderful visit. Being with my near and dear ones is the thing I am always thankful for. 

The rupee is almost Rs. 50 to a dollar. This was a thing that seemed impossible until a few years back. I am thankful that many of the software professionals will get a good exchange rate for the dollars they send home.

Gas prices are tumbling down. I am sure everyone will be thankful for that. Its one of those few things that still brings a smile to our faces in this bleak atmosphere.

Last but not the least Thanksgiving 2008 coincides with my birthday and hence I am thankful to the Lord for all His mercy towards me throughout this year and throughout my life so far.

What would you give thanks for???