Dec 25, 2024 18:14 IST
First published: 25 Dec 2024 at 18:05 IST
Three days after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) members allegedly threatened teachers at a school in Palakkad, Kerala, after they protested Santa Claus, two millennials in Noida struck a curious bond. “I went to a missionary school in Ranchi,” notes the first, “so Santa Claus and Christmas were always a big deal”. “I went to a conservative – almost Hindutva – school in Delhi, and Santa was very important to us as well.”
It’s easy to see how the joyous ubiquity of gift-giving fuels the irony of what was once a far-right wing in Indian politics. Like Valentine’s Day—another bugbear for most activists—Santa Claus represents the Indian subcontinent’s tendency to appropriate the various cultural and religious strands that are woven together into a complex whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Indeed, even beyond Santa Claus, Christmas is a cultural festival that transcends religious beliefs. A cursory glance at Park Street, in all its festive glory, is a testament to this fact even as children and parents enjoy fairs and fairs in Kolkata or outside malls across India. Even easier is the “Jesus the Balle Balle” craze that is overtaking social media.
This hybridization of culture, religion, and consumerism troubles conservatives on both the left and the right. For the former, Santa – like Saint Valentine – is largely an American creation in its current incarnation, promoted to sell things and undermine “values”. After all, apocryphal legend goes that the reason most Santa Clauses wear red and white is at least in part due to a Coca Cola advertising campaign in the 1930s that dressed him in the brand colors. Mr. Claus in Langfang, China in 2018 and a “Santa-like figure” in the Soviet Union in 1922 objected that he was a tool to spread religion. This is similar, ironically, to the objections of the VHP and its ideological family.
The opposition to Santa Claus and Christmas, then, goes on for a while. Over the past decade in India, voices protesting Christmas because Christians are in power—arguably dominated. However, Santa has not only survived, he has thrived. Why?
In a country of division and segregation, every festival that levels the playing field is disruptive and has universal appeal. Valentine’s Day became an unstoppable force after liberalization not only to sell greeting cards – but also to sell greeting cards. It was a way for young, middle- and lower-middle-class Indians to express romantic love at a time and place where agency around love and sex was rare and violated. That sentiment has been monetized, condemned—but it’s progressive. Christmas and Santa are the same. They allow people to be part of a global consumer community, to go out on a winter afternoon and celebrate without the burden of identity that many Indians – especially those from the majority community – are trapped by.
And most of all, who doesn’t love a gift?
aakash.joshi@expressindia.com
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