Christmas Lights: My Personal Medicine for Seasonal Depression

by ISHIKA SRIVASTAVA

‘Christmas time is here, time for joy and time for cheer’ - except picture this sung in the high pitched voice of Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks. Growing up in India, a large amount of my exposure to Christmas traditions came from where most self respecting children get it from - Hallmark Christmas movies. My favourite part of these movies was the hopelessly illogical plot which always seemed to work out for the main character in the end. Seven year old me learnt a lot from the media - from mistletoes mentioned in a Justin Bieber song to the Rockefeller Christmas tree from Home Alone. However, these artefacts of American so power failed to capture one essential element: Christmas lights.

Where I grew up, Christmas traditions looked slightly di erent. My neighbourhood of Bandra in Mumbai has the highest concentration of churches in the world ( even compared to the Vatican). is meant that Christmas lights lit up every nook and cranny. What made every twinkling light all the more special was they were the product of individual creativity and e ort, rather than a mass project undertaken by the city. Walks around Mumbai during