Friday, 21 December 2019, the night our DI members had been preparing for was finally here! The rallies in the city didn’t keep our members away, as we all gathered together on this cold winter evening to warmly welcome Christmas with beautiful carols, splendid performances and cheerful greetings.

Beautiful Christmas decorations and festive lights welcomed us as we walked in. Tables and chairs were laid out and the red-and-white shamiana with twinkling lights made a pretty picture. The shamiana covering the courtyard performed the all important function of protecting us from the cold winter night. As I sat amongst the audience, I heard several appreciative members, specially our older members discuss the thoughtfulness of putting up the shamiana earlier than usual this year, without it we would have certainly frozen.
The last two weeks comprised endless co-ordination for practice and oodles of patience from our star choreographer Natalie, our production team and director Leslie as they warmly taught and guided the performers of our Christmas Carol night. The participants of varying ages, ranging from children who were just 3 years old to those who had enjoyed several decades of experience, gathered every evening at Zach's for practice to bring together this beautiful show of Christmas cheer. The parents, who ferried their children for the practices, would gather in the courtyard, sipping tea or a drink, enjoying the gorgeous Kolkata winter, exchanging stories and much laughter.
Behind the scenes on the D-Day, everyone could be seen rushing around, putting the final touch of makeup and accessories. Little girls, decked up in their costumes, pouted as the final touches of make-up were applied lovingly by the volunteer mothers.

The show began with the MC Leslie taking stage and welcoming the first performers of the night, our very own Imaan and Noyonica. Even with their board exams round the corner, Imaan and Noyonica volunteered to sing and continue the tradition participating in the Christmas carols evening. Their soulful rendition of ‘That’s Christmas to me’ was a treat for the audience.

As they hummed the last few words of the song, Neel (Nate) and Neena (Debolina), the brother sister duo, came up on the stage. They complimented the singers and talked about their Christmas plans. On came the Guide (Shishir) who guided the children and the audience through the wonderful journey of discovering how Christmas is celebrated in different parts of the world. Neena and Neel carried a magical backpack each, which held answers to all their questions as they travelled the world.           

The Guide expertly directed the audience to call out “backpack-backpack” to find out where they would go next. The Guide shared some special information about the country and shared the  Christmas greeting in the language of each country they visited.

Christmas is incomplete without carols and our very own DI choir took stage and beautifully sang one carol after another as the traditional nativity scene was performed at "Bethlehem". As they sang the ever so serene ‘Silent Night’ the guiding star that had guided Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem over 2000 years ago came up on stage. We soon had our Shepherds come up to the stage with their flock of two little sheep. Mary and Joseph took stage with baby Jesus and one beautifully sung carol melted into the next. The effort and practice the choir had put in was evident in their splendid performance. 'O come let us adore Him' brought on stage the Three wise men. 'Joy to the world' had the audience singing along bringing much joy to all. Neena and Neel learnt the true essence of Christmas was peace and love.

The very first destination was the white and beautiful Alaska and we had our little Alaskans in white with red winter accessories. Our littlest participants danced merrily in unison.

The Guide came and greeted everyone in Hawaiian bringing our little Hawaiian girls on stage. Their wonderful costumes- grass skirts and colorful flower garlands made pretty pictures and the lovely dance was a pleasure to watch.

Italy was the next destination. The guide brought on stage with him an Italian man who told us about the Dominic the Donkey, an integral part of the Christmas celebrations in Italy. Little Jayden was brilliant in his comic timing and performance as Dominic.

The next destination was New Orleans, the home of Jazz, bringing Mr and Mrs Santa Claus on stage boogie-ing and jiving to a Christmas song.

We enjoyed the Christmas in summer as we visited the ‘down-under the Equator’ Australia. Our talented little dancers, in denim shorts and floral shirts, danced to Aussie Jingle bells. Neena and Neel declared they enjoyed the barbecue, or 'barbie', that Australia is famous for.

The rhythm of percussion brought on stage the vibrant Africans dancers who danced to the wild and vibrant beats. Dressed in black bodysuits, our dancers had the audience mesmerized with their dancing. 

 

Our backpacks decided to take us to the Latin Americas, the land of the cha-cha and Rumba. After being greeted in Latin we learned about the pan dulce the very famous Christmas sweet cake popular in South America. If the children displayed their talent in dancing, the adults were not far behind. Our beautiful older dancers were outstanding as were their costumes comprising a beautiful skirt which almost magically kept changing colours under the lights as they danced to the ever popular ‘Felis Navidad’

The backpack shared a ticket for the next destination, 'The Lousy institute' ... err, The Dalhousie Institute, bringing appreciative laughter from the audience.

Leslie called all the dancers on stage and credited all the special people who put in time and effort to bring this evening together.

The choir led the final singing as they moved from one Christmas song to another. Audience joined in and sang along.

This fantastic show was the result of all the hardwork many put in. The concept of the musical was discussed and decided by many - Leslie, Tanya, Natalie etc. The idea was turned into an engaging script by the father and daughter duo, Leslie and Christabel.

The production was brilliantly managed by Rhea Rao. Tanya and her team - Shaheen, Brinelle and Lorraine,  worked on the rehearsals, costumes. Aunty Ruth and Kavita helped with the makeup. Helpful parents managed the kids throughout.

Our star instructor Natalie choreographed and patiently taught each dance to the participants. Dominic the donkey’s comic dance was choreographed by Ryan. Leslie, as the Director, brought the whole show together and steered it towards the brilliance displayed today. 

The MC then called on stage our DI president, Jayajit Biswas who expressed his tremendous appreciation of the show. Jayajit spoke about the message of love and peace Christmas conveys and on behalf of the Council he promised a dinner to the participants.

Another very special announcement was made, Life membership was conferred on Mr Robin and Mrs Minu Roychowdhury for their continued significant contribution to the growth of DI. Members from 1980, Mr and Mrs Roychowdhury have been actively working for the club since. 

A special surprise awaited all as Craig D'Souza sang beautiful songs continuing the festive spirit. Starting with 'Blue Christmas' Craig sang some Christmas songs and then gradually moved on to dance numbers.

Aruna Gomes, Principal of Loreto House, was appreciative as she shared that she loved the show and mentioned that she "really liked the story, specially enjoyed watching children dancing and could see that a lot of preparation went into it"

The wonderful evening had come to an end but the wonderful memories will always remain with us.

Pictures courtesy Natalie Pote Shaw, Shubham Poddar and Peter Hyrapiet.  For more pictures and videos the professional agency will be uploading them on the website within a week.