India, Woodman Family »
Bara Din Mubarak Ho!
December 24, 2012 | 4 Comments | Betsy Woodman
Greetings for the Big Day–in other words, Merry Christmas!
Christmas Eve in India, we hung stockings in preparation for Santa’s coming, as in this 1958 photo.
Photo: Woodman Family Collection
My sisters Deborah and Jane are standing on three-legged stools that tended to be tippy, but somehow we escaped mishaps. The Nataraj on the mantelpiece (Lord Siva as cosmic dancer) witnessed many such ceremonies.
The suitcase-y thing on the right was a reel-to-reel tape recorder, playing “White Christmas” and “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.”
Not much danger of that! But we made “snow” out of Lux soap flakes and daubed it on our Christmas tree—a bush that lived outside in its tub the rest of the year.
Photo: Woodman Family Collection
Deb and Jane are scrubbed and ready for bed. There isn’t a hair out of place in Jane’s long tight braids. Deb’s giving you an evening namasté.
Lee and I, however, are dressed to stay up with the grown-ups for a while—lucky big girls.
Photo: Woodman family collection
Another year, Jane was the “first angel” in her school’s Christmas pageant.
If I may jump back even further in time, here is our 1953 Christmas card, from Chennai, (then Madras.) Lee, my mom, and I are wishing everyone the merriest of holidays. And so do I now, and may 2013 be your best year ever.
Photo: Woodman Family Collection
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Merry Christmas, Betsy. Thanks for the India memories.
Merry Christmas Eve Bets! I hope you are warm and cozy with your family. I remember those tippy stools and the Nataraj. The pics brings back fond memories. Thanks and best wishes for the New Year!
It is a little late for wishing Merry Christmas but never too late to play Let it Snow. 🙂
You sure have a lovely collection of pics, well-preserved. And an excellent narration to go along with those pics makes your blog one of the best blogs I have read in a long time.
Thanks for the kind words, Sapna!