Christmas in India

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One of my "correspondents" asked about "Christmas in India" so here goes:

What can I say about Christmas in India that won't sound silly? Here in Mysore, it's a sunny morning -- I'd say the temperature is around 25 degrees here. Apart from the schools being closed for the last week or so, it's been hard to remember that Christmas was almost upon us. There's been a slow buildup in the newspapers but that doesn't translate into reality -- the traffic on the streets hasn't changed, people don't seem to be extra festive and most importantly, shopping doesn't seem to have been affected. I don't know if it's any different in the malls in Bangalore -- perhaps it is, because the malls in Bangalore seem to be trying very hard to imitate malls elsewhere in the world -- but in the markets of Mysore, Christmas is just one of the many festivals that take place and are shopped for by householders.

The oddest thing is that work doesn't seem to stop at all for Christmas: the newspaper arrived as usual this morning so clearly the presses ran last night though it remains to be seen whether they do tonight and there is a house being built behind ours with construction guys on the job as a I write. Most of the shops are open and there appear to be both staff and customers in them. I'm so used to be being bored on Christmas because nothing much is open that it's very strange to be here and see life being carried out as usual. Government offices, banks and major businesses are closed today but other than that... I suppose it's not all that odd because the country more or less shuts down for many other holidays and religious festivities... or perhaps that makes this odder still? I dunno.

In any case, I'm just waiting for tomorrow, when I turn thirty.