My favourite season is here with its peanuts, 'Kashmiri' tea and thick woollies (these last named being my favourite, as they hide an annually expanding waistline from the accusing eyes of my children and grandchildren). While December brings a festive spirit to the large Pakistani Christian community as they celebrate the birth of Jesus, it brings back fond memories to me, of a time when there were no religious biases, nor the threat of 'terror' in the Land of the Pure. The Goan and Anglo-Indian communities of Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore celebrated Christmas with a gay abandon that also generated 'bonhomie' and empathy amongst the Muslim residents of these cities.
The Saddar area of Karachi reflected a carnival like atmosphere with decorations and stars adorning balconies and buildings. I always made it a point to visit my tailors Jack Braganza and the mouth-watering Pereira Bakery, a couple of days before Christmas, to sample specially made cookies and the tantalisingly delicious Christmas cakes. I visited Karachi three decades later to find that the Braganza and Pereira establishments had disappeared and that most of the Goan community had migrated abroad. It felt as if a vital piece of Pakistan's largest city had been cut away - as if Karachi had lost a part of its soul.
Christmas Eve in Rawalpindi was a happy affair and a walk through Lal Kurti, which boasted a large Christian community, was always a welcome option. Rawalpindi Cantonment boasted two great churches from the days of the British colonial era and it went to the great credit of the Christian community that these places of worship were, and continue to be, kept in excellent condition. I always made it a point to call on an old school friend from Lahore, who lived in Lal Kurti, on Christmas Eve. As I entered his cosily decorated home, I was set upon by a horde of small children who festooned themselves on me in search for the box of ginger bread figures I always carried on this occasion. Alas, my friend is no more and his family along with the young ones have moved abroad, leaving an empty feeling within me.
It was, however, Christmas in Lahore that took the honours. As a child, studying in one of Lahore's well known schools, I remember walking in line with our teachers and entering the great Cathedral in awesome silence, to witness the full dress rehearsal of the Christmas tableaux. I recollect waiting eagerly for the climax, when all characters of this biblical story appeared on stage in a crescendo of light and sound.
Lahore in the decades of the fifties and the sixties boasted a very large Anglo-Indian community many of whom were employed the North Western Railway and Police. The members of the Christian railway community centred around the Burt Institute, which had some of the country's finest billiard tables and a spacious ballroom. It was on many occasions that I accompanied my father, who was an accomplished billiard player, to the place.
The institute’s ballroom became the focus of celebrations, as the evening of the annual Christmas and New Year Balls drew near. These were unforgettable events in Lahore's social calendar of yore.
The apartments in the Civil Lines police compound on Queen's Road were inhabited by many Anglo-Indian police officers, who headed for the Police Club on Golf Road for the annual Christmas festivities. Many of these, including the famous duo of Niblett and Blunt, also turned up later to join the fun at Burt Institute.
Christmas celebrations were also held at the YMCA on the Mall and its female chapter, the YWCA located on Queen's Road. A small hedge divided our house from the YWCA premises and we could hear the commanding voice of the warden, Miss Suba Khan haranguing her Chitrali cook and other staff to tidy up their act before the guests began arriving on Christmas Eve. Miss Khan was an unforgettable character with sterling qualities and iron discipline, who ensured that no scandal ever erupted from her establishment.
My journey into time has been interrupted by my cell phone, which has begun to ring telling me that my editor is on the line insisting that I mail this column without more ado. And so I must, but not before I wish to all my Christian readers and their families - a very happy and fulfilling Christmas.
The writer belongs to a very old and established family of the Walled City. His forte is the study of History.