Spirit of giving is theme for Christmas, New Year

Star hotels usually had cake-mixing ceremonies and they invited high-profile celebrities to grace the occasion. There have been interesting concepts in the past where a bakery went on to bake a life-sized cake at a popular mall.  “Last year, it was the floods and this year, what we went through as a city was even worse. Compared to previous years, we have reduced the expenditure to half,” says a manager of a star hotel in the city. However, one can still spot Christmas trees and decorations. 

“This is an important time of the year for the hotel industry. We do have Christmas trees and celebrations for the guests who’d be staying with us but we are not going very open with the publicity. We used to give out massive advertisements in newspapers but now, major chunk of our publicity is happening on social media,” says Gokul Nath, manager of a popular pub. Even those known for throwing lavish parties have decided to keep the celebrations on a low key. 

Udhaya P, an event organiser says, “Earlier the budget given to us for a beach house party was anywhere between Rs 5 to 10 lakhs where we could accommodate 100 people and above. This year, the number of private parties have reduced, mainly because of the demonetisation. People do not have the money in hand to spend. The entry fees for these parties starts from Rs 3,000 and most of the organisers only accept cash.” 

Now, even the private parties are limited to the inner circle. Sonia C. Mathew, a resident of Nungambakkam says, “This year, Christmas is all about family and the money kept aside for the big party. We will buy gifts for underprivileged kids for an orphanage that was damaged by the cyclone.”

For some, it’s all about giving to others. Aravind Jayabal of Raindropss says, “This year we plan to distribute food packets and cakes to people outside temples, mosques and churches. Apart from this, we will distribute food and cake among other underprivileged. Many people have come forward to donate in their neighbourhoods.”