It all began as soon as Diwali ended. I quickly rushed off to Khan Market seeking "Diwali sales" - you know, like post-Christmas/post-Easter/post-Halloween sales at Eckerd of all the Holiday paraphernalia. Diwali one of the biggest Indian Holidays and is rather Christmas-like with families decorating their homes with lights and candles and such (minus Santa, reindeer, Snowmen and mistletoe). I was hoping to find some white lights for half price (because half off of $2.50 is a steal!). Well, I ran into the Diwali stores only to find that they were immediately turned over to Christmas shops! Gigantic, life-size Santas that sing and dance, ornaments galore and, of course, no half-price lights. Yes, I paid the full $2.50. bummer.
Not only are there Holiday shops devoted strictly to Christmas, but where we are usually met by children trying to sell magazines, newspapers, roses and balloons at large intersections, we are now approached by Santa's "helpers" selling Santa hats and Santa masks.
I began to wonder why all this Christmas decor? We're in a country that is 80% Hindu and 2% Christian, but by the amount of Western Holiday "stuff" and and the large number of Christmas shops, you'd think that all Christians were moving to India for the Holidays. I'm sure there are a variety of reasons....For one, there are thousands upon thousands of ex-pats living in Delhi, and people like Jon actually buy the Santa masks on the side of the road. Christmas paraphernalia is fun and it's all over the world, so the better question is probably why not India? And, I guess, we can probably thank Hallmark somewhere in there.....
Happy Holidays! We're off to Bali tomorrow. Keep checking for updates while we're in Indonesia!
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