Every time we love, it’s Christmas
Christmas has always been a tradition in the Wijayaratna household and festivities start quite early. Generally celebrations are at my grandparents’ place but this doesn’t stop my family from going to town on our decorations. Trying to make the house look as festive as possible has always been a fun exercise for my sister and I. We take decorating super seriously, when we were little things even got a little competitive when we used to battle it out to see who made the longest paper chain to put on the tree. Perhaps a little less competitive now, we still spend time putting up the tree to some good seasonal music.
Shopping for gifts is an anticipated activity, but generally this is done alone. We like to keep things on a ‘classified information’ basis because the fun of it has been surprising each other with the presents. Prepping for Christmas has also always meant making cake. I generally ‘help’ my grandmother with it, which almost by default means sneaking a handful of ingredients to munch on and a quick ‘sampling’ of the batter. My grandmother unfortunately passed away a few years ago, so a lot has changed, my aunt has taken on the festive baking.
When Christmas Eve rolls around and everyone is done with their share of preparations we head out for dinner as a family. We don’t quite have a set destination for Christmas Eve dinner, it comes down to what everyone’s in the mood for.
Christmas day starts off with a Service at around 8, after which we go to my grandparents’ for breakfast. The day is generally spent there and when my rather big extended family starts coming in it gets loud and festive. Christmas isn’t the only time we meet, but the mood of this gathering somehow is always different and warm at the main event of the day which is dinner. Preparation for dinner is as fun because everyone chips in. My cousins and I usually run around doing logistical chores like setting the table. Something I anticipate would have to be the extremely delicious Stollen that my grandmother used to make which my aunt now brings to dinner, but the best Christmas food would have to be Christmas pudding with my favourite part- a killer brandy butter.
Music is a rather prominent part of Christmas to me. I do enjoy tapping my toes to upbeat Christmas tunes, but my favourite carol I would say is the hymn, Angels from the Realms of Glory. I think it’s regrettable that people lose the true meaning of what Christmas is today. It shouldn’t be boxed-in to be just a day or a season. Every time we love, every time we show compassion and every time we give, it’s Christmas.
With the festive season upon us once again we reprise this column with thoughts of what this season means to different youngsters. This week we feature vocalist of the only all-girl band to bag the TNL Onstage title of best band, Sushmita Wijayarantna who rose to the lime light with the girls of Audacity. She shares with us what her Christmas feels like.
Christmas has always been a tradition in the Wijayaratna household and festivities start quite early. Generally celebrations are at my grandparents’ place but this doesn’t stop my family from going to town on our decorations. Trying to make the house look as festive as possible has always been a fun exercise for my sister and I. We take decorating super seriously, when we were little things even got a little competitive when we used to battle it out to see who made the longest paper chain to put on the tree. Perhaps a little less competitive now, we still spend time putting up the tree to some good seasonal music.
Shopping for gifts is an anticipated activity, but generally this is done alone. We like to keep things on a ‘classified information’ basis because the fun of it has been surprising each other with the presents. Prepping for Christmas has also always meant making cake. I generally ‘help’ my grandmother with it, which almost by default means sneaking a handful of ingredients to munch on and a quick ‘sampling’ of the batter. My grandmother unfortunately passed away a few years ago, so a lot has changed, my aunt has taken on the festive baking.
Sushmita with friends at Christmas
When Christmas Eve rolls around and everyone is done with their share of preparations we head out for dinner as a family. We don’t quite have a set destination for Christmas Eve dinner, it comes down to what everyone’s in the mood for. Christmas day starts off with a Service at around 8, after which we go to my grandparents’ for breakfast. The day is generally spent there and when my rather big extended family starts coming in it gets loud and festive. Christmas isn’t the only time we meet, but the mood of this gathering somehow is always different and warm at the main event of the day which is dinner. Preparation for dinner is as fun because everyone chips in. My cousins and I usually run around doing logistical chores like setting the table. Something I anticipate would have to be the extremely delicious Stollen that my grandmother used to make which my aunt now brings to dinner, but the best Christmas food would have to be Christmas pudding with my favourite part- a killer brandy butter.
Music is a rather prominent part of Christmas to me. I do enjoy tapping my toes to upbeat Christmas tunes, but my favourite carol I would say is the hymn, Angels from the Realms of Glory. I think it’s regrettable that people lose the true meaning of what Christmas is today. It shouldn’t be boxed-in to be just a day or a season. Every time we love, every time we show compassion and every time we give, it’s Christmas.