Winter holidays cometh

This time of year (end of Nov-January 1st) is traditionally a holiday season in the USA, for better or worse. Stores and houses go mad with decorations and holiday cheer. People get caught up in the spirit of volunteering and giving.

My community in Islamabad also find a way to celebrate the holidays of this season. Images of pilgrims, cornucopias, deciduous fall leaves appear on the walls and ceilings around Thanksgiving. A Winter Ball closes the school semester with dance music, strobe lights, a bonfire, dresses and suits, and well-intended cheer with foam canisters. WinterFest concerts highlight the performances of primary and secondary students over two days.

Most recently people from this community gathered at a home transformed into a Christmas wonderland. Chili lights and billowing shamianas encapsulate this environment of good cheer, ballads, decorated christmas tree, holiday nick-nacks of all types, food (turkey, lamb, stuffing, gingerbread cookies, hot apple juice (read cider), etc.), and colleagues toting along their families for this surreal journey. I had to come to Pakistan to get Santa to come to one of my own holiday parties and he delivered presents to children from all countries (America, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Switzerland).

I wouldn't call such celebrations here average. I feel they represent attempts to adapt multiple cultures, especially American, to this country - and also serve as respite.



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As expatriates and locals adjust to life together post-7.6, I've been told that mentioning the people of Kashmir in winter is morbid - at a time when we all need celebration. While celebration is the traditional sentiment this time of year, I hope we also do not simply use this period to look inwards. Maybe it's an American point of view, but family and close friends also gather to encapsulate themselves in positivity. At best, volunteerism spikes up for these holidays only to drop to drastically lower levels afterwards for most of the year. How can we foster good cheer and good serve throughout the whole year?

Well, in any case, my hat is off to a number of individuals, groups, and schools who have rallied since our 7.6 earthquake. Food, water, supplies, money, medical supplies, and good will have flowed in fairly consistently, and our school has planned and subsequently sent these resources where they have been needed. I am very proud of these individuals who have come together and continue to focus on what they can do for these people in Kasmir, namely our adopted village of Siana.