Christmas diversity in London

This afternoon was the annual carol service at my son’s school. I had missed the past 3 or 4 years, mainly because of work commitments, so it felt a joy to have the time and freedom to go along. Susen came along with me and I was conscious of being the only ‘mixed’ couple there.

Maybe it’s because I used to study sociology, or maybe I am just curious (nosey) but I find myself looking around the room and audience, analysing what is going on. The audience is mixed: perhaps 50/50 white and Asian (mostly Indian). The ethnically English parents all seem slightly ‘hippy-ish’ to me, like they all ought to live in Totnes or somewhere similar – but are stuck in London. No smart suits - except perhaps among the upwardly mobile Indian parents (here on highly skilled migrant visas).

How strange, I think to myself. The Asian parents must be of mostly Hindu or Sikh background, with a minority Muslim. The white parents are probably English in origin, culturally Christian but almost certainly not church-goers or believers. And here we are, altogether, continuing to celebrate the birth of Jesus, allegedly on 25 December. And I am sitting there, watching the children sing carols – some traditional, some modern – almost with tears in my eyes. What is going on?

I figure the Hindu parents are probably either quite secular or otherwise have a broad interpretation of spirituality, fostered by the inclusiveness of Hinduism (at its best). In the Qu’ran, Jesus is seen as a prophet, so Muslims will accept Christianity and Jesus as part of Islam (at its best). For the white English parents, it is probably just cultural – amplified by memories of their childhoods and the Christmas rituals.

The teachers also are from different cultures – again mainly English or Indian. Parents video and photograph their children all the way through, no doubt to send to relatives back in India. As I sit there with Susen, all around us we hear conversations going on in Hindi, and thus inaccessible. No doubt if I joined in, the language would switch to English, but the Hindi forms a slight barrier to joining in.

The carols started and a child (of Asian origin) stood up and narrated that Christmas ‘celebrated the birth of Jesus, the son of God’. Now there is a controversial statement if ever I have heard one. I might have couched it in very circumspect language, ‘Christmas allegedly celebrates the birth of Jesus, said, to believing Christians, to be the son of God’. But maybe my legal background has rubbed off onto me too much.

Susen remarks: It was a joy to see the children singing with such gusto, carols that I remembered well from my childhood. The teachers, also from a myriad of ethnicities, marshalled the children well and encouraged them. Afterwards all the parents mingled over tea and a welcome mince pie. These traditions would have been unknown to my parents but we were encouraged to take part. At the end the headmistress made a short speech congratulating the children on their performances.

Initially I thought that the carols and their significance would be lost on the Indian parents. But I remembered that most of my cousins in India would have been to church schools which are among the best in India. So perhaps to some of parents we saw today those carols would be very familiar.

I find the influence of church / chapel very strong and it is somewhere I go on occasion to light a candle or to go to a service. I find it remarkable that such traditions still have a hold on me despite the fact I do not consider myself religious. It’s the combination of the music, mainly choral, and the atmosphere in church. I feel very much at home.

So strange that we stick to these rituals: for myself because I am not a Christian, although culturally Christian, for Susen because he is culturally Hindu but brought up in a Christian society.

We drank tea and ate mince pies afterwards. I chatted to the father of my son’s best friend (Indian, Hindu, just become a British citizen after being here on a highly skilled migrant’s visa), also the mother of another friend (Jewish, here for many years and local to the area).
And drove home, wiping a slight tear from my eye and so proud of my son.