“I miss home this time of the year...it will be so festive there.” This is Saizampuii Sailo talking about the Christmas festivities back home in Mizoram. A student of the Civil Engineering stream at the College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET), she has been celebrating Christmas, or Krismas as they write it, in Thiruvananthapuram since she came to the city three years ago.

“There are 16 of us from Mizoram at CET – 13 boys and three girls. A few have gone home, the rest of us are here,” says Saizampuii, who is now in the fifth semester of the course.

Members of Kerala Mizo Association at one of their Christmas gathering in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

It is time to say Christmas Chibai or Merry Christmas for the small Mizo community in Kerala which has been gathering in Thiruvananthapuram every Christmas under the auspices of Kerala Mizo Association formed in 2009. There is also the Trivandrum Mizo Christian Fellowship that was started in 1986 by nine Mizo students of CET.

“There are around 80 Mizos in Kerala as per our records; Thiruvananthapuram has some 40 of them. Our people are working in the hospitality sector — hotels, spas, restaurants, salons etc. Not all of them turn up for the gathering because it is a busy time of the year for them. The number has come down in the last few years. A few posted at the Air Force station have been transferred,” says Wilson Vanramhluna, president of the Association, and chairman of the Fellowship.

Mizo students of College of Engineering Trivandrum | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

“Last year around 70 of us had gathered and the year before, almost 100 had turned up,” says Wilson. Besides CET, Mizo students are studying at the Rajadhani Institute of Engineering and Technology, Attingal, and TKM College of Engineering in the nearby Kollam district. There are 27 students at Rajadhani Insitute and four in TKM and most of them come to Thiruvananthapuram on Christmas day. Although three Mizo students are doing their post-graduation at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, they hardly get time to be part of the celebrations, rues Wilson.

“What Onam is to Kerala, Christmas is for us. In Mizoram, the season starts on the first day of December. As Christmas nears, offices will remain closed and there is a festive mood everywhere,” Wilson adds.

In Thiruvananthapuram, the celebration is only on December 25. The Association has rented a chapel at the Kerala United Theological Seminary, Kannammoola, also known as Kannammoola Seminary, where they hold a special service on Christmas morning. “Normally we have the service on the second Sunday of every month. On Christmas day, after the service, we sing traditional songs in the Mizo language. Since a majority of them are youngsters, it is quite an energetic music session,” Wilson says.

Members of Kerala Mizo Association singing at Christmas celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Exchanging gifts is integral to this gathering. “It is interesting as we don’t know to whom we are giving or from whom we are receiving the gift. Then we move on to the important part of the day — preparing the feast. Since there won’t be any students at the Seminary, we use their kitchen and dining hall,” says Wilson, who has been working in the IT sector in Thiruvananthapuram since 2010.

Pork being cooked for the feast | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Though pork is the main dish in the spread, there will be beef and chicken delicacies as well. “Our cuisine is simple and bland, especially in comparison to the Kerala cuisine. We mostly steam or smoke or boil the meat; there isn’t much frying,” Wilson explains. There will be smoked or boiled pork, beef porridge, chicken curry etc besides some vegetarian dishes. “If someone from Mizoram comes here, our families usually send across greens and a few vegetables, such as stink bean, samtawk (a type of eggplant), antam (mustard), khanghu (climbing wattle), chakawk (vegetable fern), pumpkin and pumpkin leaves, passion fruit leaves etc.”

Christmas spread prepared by the Mizo community | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Mizos are rice eaters, especially sticky white rice. “We have a special chilli, which looks like your kanthari mulaku (bird’s eye chilli) but is several times spicier than that. It is crushed and kept on each table, with salt and sometimes garlic added to it. Since the whole meal is bland, this chilli lends the spicy flavour,” he says. After lunch, the members disperse. Wilson adds that Mizos of different Christian denominations come together for the service.

Saizampuii says that in Mizoram the grand feast is on December 26. “The celebrations are centred around the churches. On Christmas day we go to church three times for the service and spend the rest of the day at home, all set to prepare the feast the next day in our church,” she says.

Mizo students of TKM College of Engineering, Kollam | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Wilson mentions that there would be decorations and lights all around Mizoram. Roads become no-vehicle zones. On the day of the feast, animals are slaughtered and the feast prepared at the respective churches. Since every denomination has its own church, they all have separate feasts. “There are many churches in a small area and with all of them preparing their own Christmas spread the atmosphere has to be seen to be believed. Dressed in traditional attire, people enjoy the day to the hilt,” he says.

Greens and vegetables sent by families from Mizoram to the Mizos living in Kerala | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Vanlalsangzuala, an eighth-semester student of Architecture at TKM, who is spending his fourth Christmas with members of the Association, says that there are too many things that he misses about Christmas. “The spirit is totally different in Mizoram. It is winter and therefore extremely cold. Days are short and it gets dark by around 5pm. We Mizos love to sing. So we sit around a bonfire and sing carols. There are some songs that we sing only during Christmas time. I can’t do that here,” says Vanlalsangzuala. “It is the time when we love to sun bathe,” he says.

Wilson adds that the community comes together to pray and feast during Easter as well.