December 24, 1924. Christmas Eve. | Enjoy this 55 minute program
in celebration of Rafi Sahab's 80th Birthday. Church bells must
have pealed in the cantonment towns across British India. Holy
Mass would have been said. Greetings would have been exchanged.
Uniformed soldiers and gowned ladies must have partied at
glittering balls. In keeping with the nature of the people of
the land, aspects of the ‘firangi’ culture were absorbed by the
‘natives’. The celebration of the birth of the Savior, long ago
in a distant land, became part of the local tradition, without a
religious connotation. “Bada Din” was observed by one & all as a
festivity, an occasion for gaiety, gifts & greetings. These
celebrations would surely have been ignored by one family
located in the far-flung northern provinces of the ‘raj’. Their
own personal celebrations were anticipated, a trifle anxiously.
Awaiting a birth in the family. The wail of a new-born is cause
for joy. It signifies life and hope. We can surmise that this
baby’s first howl