Christmas in September... ^%$^&$!

Late repost from last year :-(

Merry Christmas!

It's freezing here in New York. Cruel winter, expecially for us Pinoys.

Few hours from now it'll be Christmas. There's so much fuss with the holiday season here, with the ‘ball’ dropping on New Year’s eve at Times Square, unbelievable discounts in uber frenzy shops along westwick, and of course, the most elaborate yet minimalist take on Holiday cheers in MoMa.

Am re-creating christmas my own way, by listening to christmas carols, talking to families back home and feeling the familiarity of the season by talking about it and reminiscing memories. Good thing, Kath is here with me to spend christmas. We're both traveling back to our respective country of assignments on the 26th.

I had a one day break in Calcutta last week. Walked the streets where Mother Teresa once walked on. And along the cold and harsh pavements, are the ironies and realities of life. Women and children in distress, the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed. As i pretended to enjoy the grandeur that Calcutta has, i could not help but feel the presence of Mo. Teresa. And i thought, that I cannot deny the deafening silence and the wailing of the exploited. But i end up excusing myself for my fallibility and limited capacity. Hence, i become to be one of the rest of the world. who dare not go beyond their limits, for reasons that are valid in a world where reason itself has learned to rationalise.

And this christmas season, the road where Mo. Teresa treaded is beckoning.

Indeed, winter is cruel. But much of cruelty is in the man's heart. A defining christmas it is for me.