Of Cocktails & Spices: Tis' the Holiday Season ~ Around the Globe

A Christmas Tree at a friend's house in South Jersey

The more I travel & learn about different cultures, customs every country has to offer, the more I end up appreciating my birth country India. Cultures, ethnicity, languages, customs have always fascinated me. Hence I take a keen interest in making a conversation with someone if they belong to a different country or community within or outside India. It still makes me wonder how as a nation with a strength of 1 billion + population co exists with diverse cultures, ethnicity & customs in almost perfect harmony. The best part of growing up in India was always to be able to witness this multi cultural heritage. Almost every month there is a festival in some part of the country and quite a few widely accepted and celebrated by different communities. Not to exclude the wedding season which in itself is another huge festive season. Weddings in India are indeed a get together of friends, family and long celebrations that go on pre and post weddings. So when we shifted our base to USA I felt a bit isolated from a gregarious culture which I loved to the core. Even though I celebrated Holi, Diwali which of course even my American neighbors appreciated but it still felt lonely. The celebrations were much smaller in scale and no matter how much you try the spirit of the festivity is lost to a great extent. But still that did not deter us from enjoying our traditions and living in our own small world away from home.

A block before Rockefeller Center, NYC

This feeling of lonelines however didn't last long with the arrival of the long awaited Holiday season in US. Yes as the wintry nights got longer and colder with temperatures falling to negative degrees the warmth of festivity could be felt in the air. Tis' the season of Christmas & New Year and whole of December is one hell of a crazy festive month. The shopping malls are jam packed over weekends specially to avail holiday discounts & end of season mega sale. Most families irrespective of their nationality, religion, caste or creed start to put up their Christmas Tree. It is quite a sight to see how families who have lived here over the years adopted the traditions of this country only because it brings friends & family together, to eat together, to exchange gifts and to play Santa to their little toddlers. In fact I was a witness to adult friends waiting for their Santa to leave a gift for them for Christmas morning and the spouses doing their duties of playing Santa's role😁.

The Big Tree at Rockefeller Center

We on the other hand had the opportunity to travel during this season. The airports were overcrowded, everyone seem to long to go back HOME. Some to their parents, some to children, some to siblings, some to friends or relatives. I saw many military personnel in huge groups with their backpacks. Their happy faces spoke a thousand words. I realized one common aspect of traditions in different countries. It is an occasion to bring people together, to be thankful for things we usually take for granted, things that money can never buy, things that can only be felt, sometimes not spoken......it's the human bond which is celebrated through these traditions. So wherever you are , whoever you are , celebrate traditions and keep connecting and bonding because in the end it will be memories that you will cherish till your last breath. This year I had the privilege to visit multiple places during the Holiday season , here I bring a glimpse of celebrations around the globe, some through my eyes and some through my friends who celebrated in different parts of the world. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2017!!!😍😍