BENGALURU: For Judaea Ann Vanbuerle, Christmas doesn’t feel like Christmas until she attends the annual festive event organised by The All-India Anglo-Indian Association. The thought is echoed by Katelyn Rochelle Nazareth, who like Judaea, has been attending this event since she was a child. “We don’t have that many occasions bringing us all together, so this one is more special. We get to meet everyone from the community,” Nazareth, 20, told CE during the association’s recently held Christmas event.
The association celebrated their 107th edition of the event this Saturday, which was organised mainly for Anglo-Indian children and senior citizens. Over 170 children from all parts of Bengaluru attended the celebration, which resembled a mini carnival of sorts, complete with games for all age groups, a stage for a talent round, a carousel and an inflatable castle for children. “The most exciting part though is Santa’s arrival. The kids love it and we do too,” adds Nazareth, who is also a member of the association’s youth group.
Anglo-Indian MLA Vinisha Nero was also present at the celebration and recalled early memories of attending these festivities as a child. “There are five generations of Anglo-Indians here today, for many babies, this is the first Christmas event they attend, so the tradition goes on,” the 53-year-old said. Agreed Clive Michael Vanbuerle, the association’s president, who said the gathering is their version of a community celebration, since Christmas would be spent with their respective families. “We came as kids and now we bring our kids. It’s like the circle of life,” he added.
However, among the gaiety and festivities also loomed the recent news of a parliamentary bill that proposes the cancellation of Anglo Indian representatives to Lok Sabha and certain state assemblies. According to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, only 296 members of the community exist in India. “Look at the number of people gathered here, it is definitely more than 296 Anglo-Indians, at one small gathering of the community in Bangalore alone,” said Nero, who added while addressing the gathering, “We will do everything we can to ensure our nomination continues.”