It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and just as the carol says there are toys in every store, a tree in the grand hotel and one in the park as well. It’s all building up for the big day – Christmas. It is the season of joy, when carolers come to the doorstep and sing of good tidings. It is time to pick up gifts for the boys and girls that have been good this year and keep them under the Christmas tree. And wouldn’t Goa too want some good tidings and also want to find some gifts under the tree this Christmas?
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, especially where the commercial aspects of it are concerned. But is it the same Christmas that Goa and Goans were used to? Is it beginning to look like Christmas weather wise? Let’s ponder.
For starters wouldn’t it be nice to have a Christmas where at the open-air midnight mass there is that chill in the air, that soft breeze blowing that curls around you making you shiver as it did just a few years ago? Where are those cool December days?
They are just not there this year, or there are far fewer of them.
The temperature this month has not dropped as it used to, there have been just a few days that have reminded us of just how cool it used to be. On the day this was being penned, the weather bulletin showed a maximum temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 19.8 degrees Celsius, both are high for the season. Isn’t 34.8 a temperature more of the summer season?
I met a Goan from Switzerland, who is on a holiday here for Christmas and New Year. He spent his early years in Goa and his observation was that December is not as cold as it used to be. He was absolutely right, and most Goans who have experienced the Christmases of the past would agree with this statement. In the midst of the reality of climate change that is already showing signs of change, a gift under the tree would be a commitment, an assurance from the government that mitigation measures would be introduced. But it can’t end there. The pledge, unless followed by action, would mean nothing.
Climate change mitigation cannot be in isolation, but encompasses a vast area and requires many decisions. It is these that would be required in the days that follow Christmas and spill into the New Year. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful gift this Christmas?
There are the Goans who light a candle for climate change, there are the Goans who keep alive the movement for the environment, the forests and the rivers. At the time of writing this, at the municipal garden in Panjim, is an exhibition on the Mollem forest and why this patch of forest land needs to be saved.
The exciting part of this exhibition is that you can write messages to politicians and government officials on postcards that have been kept there on the need to save the Mollem forest and these cards will then be posted to the addressee once the exhibition ends. It’s almost like writing a card to Santa Claus and seeking special gifts and then waiting for them to arrive. If only it could happen!
In Goa, we don’t need to sing White Christmas, what we need and can dream about is a Green Christmas, just like the ones we used to know, where the tree tops glisten and children wait to hear forest animals roar.
Isn’t that the gift we need to give the generations of tomorrow? That’s the special gift that we in Goa need to seek this Christmas so as to pass it on to those that come after us and who will inhabit this land.
But, as we speak of gifts, carols and trees, we cannot forget that Christmas has a deeper meaning. It celebrates the birth of the Saviour Jesus Christ. It’s about bringing joy to the world for the Lord has come. For Catholics and Christians of all denominations, Christmas is the day the redeemer was born. There would be no Christmas without Christ.
On that note, may you all have a merry little Christmas, with troubles out of sight and only bright days in sight.
