Thank God Boney M sang “Mary’s Boy Child’ or the first carol in my first ever carol singing jaunt would have been an absolute non-starter.

It had vaguely crossed my mind that apart from ’Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ (Do they even count as carols?), I didn’t know any!

Sitting in a church this Christmas eve, like good back benchers, when the carol name was called out, we frantically leafed though the hymn book looking for the said hymn and couldn’t find it.

When the others sang out the first few familiar lines I shut the book and joined in lustily, relief fuelled enthusiasm making up for the lack of any singing abilities.

In Mhow for a short winter break, we knew beforehand of the carol singing outing.

Only I didn’t realize it was going to be in the Christ Church. So we were reminded last minute to dress up (Really? Even at this age? Indian parents are relentless!) for the occasion.

As we walked through the rose bush lined driveway of the church, the white steeple shone spotlessly in the fading twilight giving way to an inky starlit night.

Inside the church was lit up warmly to host the festivities, reminding us of another such evening eons back…only that had been barn!

To be continued....