Tura, Dec 21: Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, ‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la!
It’s Christmas time and there’s excitement in the air. Christmas trees are lit up, mistletoes are hung up, and there is a sentimental feeling when you hear the voices singing as caroling hits fever pitch.
Garo Hills, particularly Tura, is brimming with excitement as the biggest festival of the year-celebrating the birth of Lord Jesus Christ draws near.
Roads are choc-a-bloc with traffic and markets are bustling with customers all around. Afterall, this is the only time of the year when families get an opportunity to be together- their children returning from studies or work to spend the holiday season as one big family.
And there is good news for the localities of Tura with the administration releasing a sum of fifty thousand rupees for each area development committee to spruce up their localities with Christmas decorations and murals depicting the joy of Christmas.
Confectionaries across Tura, Williamnagar and other towns are flooded with eager customers out to get their hands on a piece of Christmas cake for the special day.
But it is not just the regular Christmas cakes laden with butter and icing that’s making waves. People are also out in search of the traditional bakers who make the Garo delicacies of cake from sticky rice, particularly Pita and Jakep- a traditional delicacy that is still a much sought after item during the holiday season.
The Tura Super Market- the centre of all business activity for clothes, shoes and electrical goods has come alive in the last three days. The year-long damp in business has finally turned around and made way for a killing as customers, from Tura and dozens of villages, flock to the several hundred stores in the market to purchase the finest and don the best on Christmas day.
The centre of all attention is undoubtedly the churches in Tura where thousands of devotees are expected to attend for the midnight service on December 24th and the Christmas service, the next morning.
A fresh coat of paint, decorative lights illuminating the entire church compound, including around bushes and trees, is indeed turning the upcoming celebration of Christmas into a memorable one.
The oldest church in Tura- Tura Baptist Church, and the Sacred Heart Shrine of the Catholic Church in Chandmari has been witnessing a stream of visitors, religious or otherwise, clicking a handful of selfies for memory’s sake.
And it isn’t just the places of worship that are drawing the attention of visitors and others. Localities and even government departments are also trying to outdo one another as to who has the better lighting for the season- take for example the Tura DC office where the trees have come alive with decorative lighting.
Till last year, the Winter Wonderland get-up at 2nd MLP Battalion premises in Goeragre, 12 kms from Tura, when the entire area was transformed into a snowy Santa’s haven, took the number one slot for the best lighting and decorations.
Not anymore! This year all attention is on Williamnagar where the district police have turned around their office premises and the adjoining road into a Christmas paradise which even Rudolph the red nose reindeer simply cannot miss noticing while guiding his sleigh above. Williamnagar is expected to witness record number of visitors from Tura and other places during this season.
But these are just a few of the venues that will be in everyone’s wish list. One mustn’t forget that many rural areas and villages, including several adjoining Tura, will be having the age-old tradition of community dancing on Christmas night where hundreds of people will partake in dancing around a bonfire to Garo Christmas songs with the music emanating from the beat of a drum.
And with barely three days left for Christmas, the sound of the drum is getting louder and the merriment filling the air across the Garo Hills.
