Sharing: Easter in India

Easter in India is a festival filled with light, happiness, joy and lots of food! The Easter celebration usually begins with a midnight vigil service in church. We wear new clothes (typically an Indian dress like Saree or salwar for women and a suit/shirt for men) and renew our Baptism vows and after the Mass some churches distribute Boiled eggs as a sign of the Risen Lord. We bring home the new fire and the new blessed water. In my family we mix the new water with our drinking water source after sprinkling it around the house. Some families also use the new fire to light their stove and cook a simple dish like tea. The morning of Easter is the real highlight when the festival sinks in. Since many families do not eat meat for 40 days during lent there is a flood of meat dishes starting from breakfast itself. Bakeries make special cinnamon hot cross buns which we buy. We prepare sweets and other Indian dishes to give to our friends and neighbours. We also treat our workers like our garbage collector, milkman, watchman to special food and sweets and they wait for Easter to get special treats for us. If homes have a maid, it is common practice to give new clothes to the maids so they can celebrate with us. Coming from south Indian family we prepare a dish named Biriyani for lunch and eat together as a family.

For me personally, Easter is about new life and coming out of the tomb. I try to offer to God atleast one dead situation in my life especially situations involving emotional hurts, unforgiveness etc and ask for these situations to rise up with Jesus. I also take a family photo after every Easter vigil to see how we age each year.

Maria Francis (National Director YOUCAT India)