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Idea of a commercially viable Advent Calendar is leaving me a tad restless

The only countdown I stayed familiar with, was the one we made on a New Year’s Eve (NYE), as we screamed our lungs out to welcome the year.

I must have been living under a rock, as they say about people like us, the unawares, for I was kind of clueless about the concept of an Advent Calendar, until 2014, when my then six-year-old niece expressed her excitement on receiving one. The only countdown I stayed familiar with, was the one we made on a New Year’s Eve (NYE), as we screamed our lungs out to welcome the year. I still don’t get the shouting out a bit, but I did happily add to the chorus, simply because it was fun to watch everyone count backwards. Advent Calendars, as I learnt, soon enough, is when we countdown to Christmas, just that we start 24 days ahead, this time; instead of the 10-second dramatic one on NYE. These aren’t your regular calendars, but boxes made up of further tinier boxes; each containing candy or a treasured piece; or as in the case of my niece’s calendar, each contained a DIY-Christmas-y activity — watch a Christmas movie today, draw out snowflakes with paper, bake a batch of cinnamon cookies, with mom-dad; you get the drift, right? The idea being simple i.e. build up the excitement towards the arrival of Santa.

Over the years, even though I learnt more about the Advent Calendar, I never bought myself one; yes, partly because I am a grown-up adult, which is not to say the child in me is not alive, just that perhaps as the concept was not introduced to me early on, so it and I didn’t grow old together, and hence it doesn’t hold a nostalgic value. And mostly, because once this simple concept, just like everything else, got commercialised it put me off the idea, completely. A Game of Thrones Advent Calendar, no thank-you, please. I rather have ginger-bread with hot chocolate and keep my memories of Christmas the way I read about them in my Enid Blyton books or the way we celebrated it in the convent school I went to, and looked forward to meeting the senior teacher, with a gunny bag of candies, in an ill-fitted red costume and poorly glued beard.

Why am I talking of Advent Calendars, well because it is that time of the year, even if it is 2020, Christmas is still in the air. Of course, now that I am aware, I have come across many Advent Calendars and have been at the receiving end to a few as well. One of these came loaded with candies in the shapes of snowmen, trees, stars, snowflakes, et al. A few boxes (read: calendar!) boast candles, body lotions, and eye shadows. Trust me, I love all of these items, even though I’ve eaten more candy and cakes in 2020 than ever (hello, baker-in-me, which got a fresh lease of life in the lockdown) and I don’t know how to apply eye shadow, without messing it up.

The idea of having a little token to wake up to each of the next few mornings seem exciting, yet I am having trouble wrapping my head (and ribbons) around Advent Calendars in 2020. Don’t mistake this as my lack of enthusiasm for Christmas, for my tree, is already up, and I began to listen to Christmas classics on loop in the second week of November; my bemusement with the Advent Calendars is stemming from my ineptness to understand what am I counting down to, a Covid-Christmas? I am not against finding joy in whatever we can during these times, but add in the commercial sale angle (which, to is good for the economy during these times), the fact that many people across the world are feeling non-festive (which doesn’t mean that ones who can, shouldn’t be in festive spirits), and the very fact that I am not sure what am I back-counting towards is leaving me a bit restless. On the 26th morning too, after Santa would have travelled to many homes via the chimneys, we’d still be in a pandemic could be one reason holding me back from jumping to yet another tradition turned into a business.

Whilst I hope that the Christmas of 2021 is different, I also regret how we once again fell down the brands-numbers-sell without a conscience road. As I pen this down, I am certain that in some homes, families at various stages in life, battling-surviving-thriving, are giving the Advent Calendars 2020 makeover, one that speaks more of sincere joy than the sales targets. As for me, I am not opening a box, each morning, and jumping out of joy (as much as I too want that lavender-scented incense!), instead, I am laying low and getting out of bed, grateful for yet another day. And for those, who are finding joy in the countdown, I hope your enthusiasm and spirit rubs on the rest of us, for it is the season to be jolly, after all.

purva@khaleejtimes.com