With Christmas just two weeks away, the Doon valley has an air of festivity which is difficult to miss. Even as early as November, people start preparations for the big day and slowly, the preparations pick up pace and reach their peak in mid-December.
At the homes of the valley’s Christian residents. members of the families who are away, working in other cities or even other countries, are awaited by those living here.
It is a month of rejoicing and the preparation for the holy festival gives a lot of joy too.
Schools in the valley, day schools as well as residential, all have special X’mas programmes and celebrations before closing for winter vacations.
Homes are cleaned and painted, goodies are bought and made, gifts are chosen for loved ones and decorations put up.
Violet and Russell Gardner, famous educationists of the city, believe that X’mas that was earlier a purely family affair, has now become an extremely social occasion where one meets a lot of friends and acquaintances. Russell Valentine Gardner, who has been the principal of St.Thomas College for more than three decades, remembers how the “Jam Session” was where all Anglo-Indians socialized during X’mas in the earlier days.
“When I was a youngster living in Allahabad the jam session was where the celebrations were socially held. We would sing, dance and have snacks. Then we came back home and had a quiet dinner with our families. Gardner also recalls how the Anglo-Indian Club and the Railway Club in Allahabad kept their X’mas celebrations on separate dates. “We enjoyed both the celebrations thoroughly.”
At St.Thomas College, a X’mas tree celebration will be held for children. “We also have an X’mas Ball (social) on the basketball court of the college,” says Gardner. At the X’mas tree function, children get to meet Santa who comes in at the tea party and distributes gifts. A music competition is also part of the X’mas Tree celebration.
Though many of the Anglo-Indian families of Dehra Dun have migrated to Australia and the US, the special colour the community brings to Christmas festivities is still quite visible and enriches the spirit of the festival . And to add to the festive atmosphere are the Doon valley’s famous bakeries, working overtime, getting set to provide people with X’mas cakes and goodies that will last well upto the new year.
Mussoorie and Dehradun, besides having been well-known as twin abodes of natural beauty and tranquility, have always been associated with a rich and exotic tradition of baking. A tradition which is being carried forward by several families of bakers in the hill town as well as the Doon valley.
With the arrival of Christmas and New Year, these bakeries witness their busiest time, trying their best to meet the demand for a variety of Christmas cakes and goodies. An amazing variety of exotic cakes ,cookies and chocolates are available.
Some of the Christian families mix their own cakes and then give it to the bakers for baking. But few bakeries now have the time to bake their mixes,preferring to bake their own cakes for selling.
Famous author Ruskin Bond, who spent many a Christmas with his grandparents in the Doon valley as a child in the 1940s, says that Dehradun was a recreation centre for American and British troops in those war years. “During Christmas and New Year, the liveliness was at its peak and there were live bands with a lot of dancing and partying around.”
He says he remembers a large number of cafeterias and dance halls on Rajpur Road, especially Astley Hall. “There was the famous “Casino” owned by the popular magician Gogia Pasha. They had great parties at Christmas and New Year. And Pasha’s magic show was part of the entertainment. I remember attending these shows,” says Ruskin who spent his winter vacations with Ellen Clerke, his maternal grandmother who had a lovely house on Old Survey Road. His grandfather, an Anglo-Indian, had settled down in the Doon valley after retiring from the Railways.
“There were a lot of Anglo-Indian families in the town.The celebrations at home were rather simple but joyful. I never forgot to put up a stocking on Christmas Eve. I used to throw about hints regarding the things I wanted. And invariably, one of the uncles or aunts would fill up my stocking with those very things.
“The White House Hotel had a dance hall which got burnt down later. It had a good flooring which one can see even today,” says Bond adding that this was a popular hall for Christmas and New Year dances.
