In the ‘80s and ‘90s, a typical Christmas morning in Bengaluru was marked by the smell of plum cake and trees outside lined with fairy lights. For those who grew up in that generation, memories such as these live more vividly in the mind than in photo albums, and are replayed every season.
From a parish choir testing their mics to pressure cookers hissing and all your cousins trying to fit into a single auto, the festive spirit seemed to hover in the air. Before the time of malls and Instagram, the joy of the festival spread through word of mouth and the city’s iconic streets.
Greet street
Places such MG Road, Brigade Road and Commercial Street turned into informal meeting points, spots where everyone met up at least once during the season. “In the ‘80s, we used to walk to church in the chill midnight for mass, because hardly anyone in our area had a car back then,” recalls Jom James, a restaurant owner at Sri Krishna Cafe, in Halasurur, who has lived in the city for 52 years.
Inside homes, the celebrations were simple but rooted in love and connection. James remembered his mother making appam and mutton stew as he and his sister waited, while a simple Christmas tree surrounded by balloons stood propped up as a decoration.
