A Not So Merry Christmas in Mumbai

by Sharell on December 24, 2008

in Adjusting to India, Culture Shock in India

It’s the night before Christmas. I’m sitting alone in the apartment feeling really sad, and wishing I was back in Australia with my family and friends. I have no plans to celebrate Christmas at all. It’s making me so depressed.

The mood in Mumbai is still very somber after the terrorist attack a month ago. My husband will be working on Christmas Day (it’s not a public holiday in India). I’m coming to terms with the fact that I’ll be spending Christmas by myself, not doing anything festive at all.

This is the saddest and loneliest I’ve felt in a long time. It really doesn’t seem at all like Christmas. I remember I used to feel such excitement on Christmas Eve.

I really don’t want to be in India at the moment. I guess this is what it feels like to be homesick. I can’t summons enthusiasm for anything much, and I want to sleep all the time — either that or drink wine to make myself feel a bit more cheery.

I don’t want to question my decision in being in India but I can’t help it sometimes. The universe has been so good in giving me everything possible to make my life work out here, but I’m missing the things I gave up.

Share This:
  • email
  • Print
  • RSS
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Facebook
  • Yahoo! Bookmarks
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Technorati
  • Blogosphere News
  • IndianPad
  • Mixx

Related Posts:

  1. My Third Christmas in India
  2. Violence in Australia Isn’t Only Towards Indians
  3. The Difficulty of Living So Far From Home
  4. My Stay With My Inlaws
  5. Challenges With Indian-Foreigner Marriages
  6. Finally Finding My Feet in Mumbai?
  7. My Bad Indian Habits
  8. Fear Over Moving to Mumbai

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Shravan shravanblog.blogspot.com August 1, 2009 at 4:40 pm

Wow. I was in Bombay for Xmas ‘08. I was feeling the same was you. Alone in my flat, just wanting it to end.

Then I went for a walk. I waked through Bandra’s quaint (yet spectacularly modest) Christian quarter. Every house had its doors open – smells of roasts would waft out and sounds of Christmas carols made me feel better. A large family who were sitting down for their Xmas dinner saw me walking alone, brooding. They asked where I was going and asked me to join them.

That is the spirit of India, in my humble opinion. It made me feel better.

Sharell August 1, 2009 at 7:11 pm

That is so heartwarming to hear, and yes, it’s definitely what makes India special.

Ranurgha August 6, 2009 at 12:08 am

I beg to differ. Christmas is a public holiday in India.

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: