25th December 2019, the clock struck midnight. It was Christmas Eve, and Mount Mary Church, located at the top of the Bandra hill, lit up like fireworks as always.
Some were dressed in pastel, some in vivid bright, some accompanied by their loved ones and some strangers of the night, candles in hand, sitting on white plastic chairs waiting for the midnight mass to begin.
Their eyes gleaming with joy and hope. Joy due to the excitement of the holiday season and hope caused by the holiday itself.
The birth of Jesus has always been a symbol of hope accompanied by a miracle and, every Christmas brings with it the same feeling. However, there has always been something particularly magical about Christmas in this church.
Is it the diverse crowd coming from all walks of life? Or the twinkling streets entangled in fairy lights? The never-ending carols playing in the background? Or the rhythmic foot sound?
This feeling simply comes from comfort. The same comfort you feel sitting on your favorite side of the couch inside the four walls that you’ve been taught to call home.
The space between the things we are taught and the things we learn on our own accord are often the things that define not just us but also our life and the lives of the people around us.
So, if calling the brick walls, we spend every night within, one’s home is something we’ve been taught. What about the world outside our apartment’s main door? Our city. Isn’t that our home too?
Mumbai, a city that never sleeps. One that is fuelled by chaos. But home is where peace is. So, the question is - how does one find peace in this chaos? Finding solace and comfort in a city like Mumbai is like humming to a long time ago in Bethlehem while everyone is jamming to Jingle bell rocks. Yet what makes it feel like home?
Not the places they wear off. The people, they change, and home is meant to be constant. As we climbed the stairs at exactly 12:37 am to give away the candles we so passionately bought to light, we realized that home is moments one spends between the silence and the chaos because moments don’t wear off or change but remain the same. Moments stay with us forever, just like the last verse of White Christmas.
Home is a 3:00 am walk on the Queen’s necklace, home is celebrating 24 years of DDLJ at Maratha Mandir.
Home is spending Christmas Eve lighting up colorful candles, watching the flames burn, singing hymns at Mount Mary church and home is also sipping hot chocolate ( boost ) at Bandstand, trying to figure out the exact place the waves hit the rocks under the night sky, after a long walk from the church with a content heart, aching feet and stilettos in hand.
So, there’s a possibility that may be a long time ago, in Bethlehem when the holy bible said that Mary’s boy child Jesus Christ would be born on Christmas Day, Mary found her home at that moment too. Or on that silent night, another holy night.
When all was calm and bright, they learned home too, mother and child.
So, on that first day of Christmas, my true love, Mumbai, gave me a new home. And this year, to save me from here, when the clock strikes midnight, I will share this home with someone special just like Last Christmas.
This is so good!