Christmas celebrations at Mumbai’s Khotachiwadi: Why did Black stop playing Santa Claus?

Andre Baptista has been living in Khotachiwadi for almost all his life. His ancestors: The East Indian were converted into Christianity by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries. Later, they were re-Indianised, so to speak, re-Sanskritised under the Maratha occupation. While they were undergoing this massive transformation, they suddenly found the English as their overlords.

The colonial rulers sparked dense cultural evolution, owing to the history that transpired in the then-known Bombay, informs Baptista. "But speaking of Christmas as it's celebrated here, I don't know whether it bears any resemblance to the Latinised world. However, our customs would probably have more similarities with the English world, as the communities over here got anglicised in the early 20th century."

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Khotachiwadi: The heritage village from South Mumbai is home to Portuguese-styled architecture endowed with colourful bungalows, guitar-playing locals and culinary traditions. With its old-world charm, the place has driven Baptista to appreciate the antiquities and the stories that narrate the bygone era.

Consequently, he pursued archaeological studies and is now a lecturer and consultant in Archaeology, History and Cultural Heritage. In an exclusive conversation with Midday, he regales us over Christmas celebrations at Khotachiwadi.

A medley of Christmas celebrations

What was once primarily populated by East Indians, Pathare Prabhu and other communities is now graced with a mix of Roman Catholics, including Goans and Mangaloreans, informs Baptista. This communal pluralism has induced a medley of Christmas celebrations in the region.

Even though the forms of expression are different, the standards remain a very typical Bombay practice. The residents put up Christmas trees and sweets are prepared a week or so before. Baptista's and his neighbour's houses stand decorated with wreaths, stockings, lights and candles.

He recalls a memory from one of the Christmas celebrations at Khotachiwadi. "Midnight Mass is an ongoing tradition where families would go to the church just before midnight to attend service. And then, of course, there was always coming back home and finding those presents under the tree."

The festive season at Khotachiwadi is a blend of Westernised Christmas, commercialised Christmas, with the tradition of still going to the church for a service at midnight.

Baptista reminisces that it used to be a very strong community space back in the 80s and the 90s. "So, we have had generations after generations residing here. And when the children grew up, they took the onus of organising Christmas festivals for other children in the area. So, one of them would dress up as Santa Claus, go around the lanes of the wadi singing carols and other children would follow them around."

The entire procession would culminate at the Catholic Club, where they would serve these little snack boxes with a little take away gift. This customary practice got the children, other residents and their cousins to unite at Khotachiwadi, shares Baptista. Another tradition revolves around the same youth, who would also go around on Christmas Eve to each house and sing carols that would be accompanied by the guitarist and choir members.

However, life catches up and things have quieted down a lot, opines Baptista. People have moved out as the times went by and many of them don't find an opportunity to come back. Hence, the group of Carols (from the 90s) that numbered easily between 20-30 is now down to about five or six. The landscape of celebrations has changed overtime at Khotachiwadi, opine the locals.

Why did Black stop playing Santa Claus?

Willy Black (65) holds up a newspaper cutting that says: "The Santa Next Door." He recalls the days of yore when he would dress up as Santa Claus and go around Khotachiwadi. "I was a rage, playing with kids and entertaining them and giving out sweets," Black tells Midday as he rummages through newspaper clippings.

"For years, I have been doing it and now I am a little disgusted with this place. Last Christmas, I was approached by a kid to play a Ganpati song which went viral. The recital went on for 3 hours which was captured by many folks attending the session. However, it was to be my last performance. A lot of people point out that I stopped doing that and I say yeah!"

But, why did Black stop playing Santa Claus?

"My spirit is crushed," shares Black. Earlier, he used to have a snowman and a Christmas tree but he stopped decorating his place in 2016. "It used to be fun until random passersby started hanging around in the vicinity. They thought this was an easygoing place. Teenage girls and boys would indulge in carnal pleasures in broad daylight which, to me, is absolutely unacceptable," remarks Black.

He never wanted to leave the wadi for any other place in the world but now he is unsure of his stance. Like other gated societies, khotachiwadi doesn't have gates and guards. "People living here are old and they don't even know how to yell. The goodness has been taken for granted and it is horrible.

It's the presence of outside people all year round in the precinct that has turned it into a menace, remarks Black. "Every year, I look forward to Christmas celebrations with my friends Christopher Baptista, Shailendra and more guys I grew up with. But, gradually - I want to stop doing this as well," shares Black in a disappointed manner.

Black wishes that Khotachiwadi remained obscure and out of bounds in order to preserve it. "We keep the place clean, however, visitors move our stuff around to click pictures. They damage our bikes and pots for their social media stories." Dismayed by this attitude, Black draws analogies as to why Khotachiwadi should be protected as a precinct.

The need to preserve Khotachiwadi and its heritage

When you look at the genesis of modern Mumbai, it reveals how it was a colonial endeavour to transform seven islands into a metropolis. When they started to expand the city beyond the confines of the four walls, they invited a lot of trading communities as well as working communities to come take up residence in the city. This expansion transformed the city into a financial powerhouse, informs Baptista.

And, when these people from different regions of India, with different cultural backgrounds, migrated to the city, they brought with them those forms of expression that reflected in the regional residential dwellings, as opposed to say, the public forms of architecture like the Neo-Gothic Revival, neoclassical, Art Deco and more.

You have these stamps of Pan-Indian identities across Mumbai city, whether you're talking about these bungalows of Khotachiwadi, the wadas around Girgaum or the Havelis of Worli. "So it represents the identity of Bombay as being not linear, but pluralistic. Also, it adds vibrancy to the city's skyline and I think it preserves a very, very vibrant tapestry comprising these areas, threads that have made their way from different spaces and found form and expression on this island city," shares Baptista.

He continues, "I think that stands for our identity as a city as a whole. And with development, when you're talking about apartment buildings, complexes and high rises, there is a certain detachment that takes place from the older street, which is where life exists, which is where city dynamism unfolds. And then you're taken away from those streets and based into these rather impersonal looking structures which give you a sense of detachment."

What follows is a sense of apathy and with apathy comes an attitude that drives you away from caring for your city. Baptista opines that this change in approach is very dangerous and more detrimental to cities, character, charm and identity. However, locals are doing their bit to preserve the heritage and keep the culinary traditions alive.

Culinary traditions during Christmas

Sorpotel is usually a Christmas favourite which refers to minced meat in a potato mash formed into these little cutlet-shaped things that are fried. That's again the English influence, shares Baptista. "We prefer mutton curry, vrindaloo, pork and fish as it is more of a staple on the Christmas menu.

For the designer James Ferreira, Christmas is a very family-oriented affair. "Our families come down to celebrate the festival for a day or two. We make sweets and send them to each other to share the festivities. The sweets we make are Maharashtrian in style, which include Marzipan, Mewris, Kul-kuls, Shankar paare and Ju-jubs," shares Ferreirs.

Other traditional Christmas sweets include milk cream, which is made of milk and cashew nuts shaped into little shells. Some families have also taken up marshmallows which is another English-influenced culinary practice.