India: Choir groups come together to join a Carol Singing Festival

As a challenging year draws to a close, the spirit of Christmas is alive. Over 225 singers comprising 18 choir groups of schools, colleges, youth groups and parishes sang carols during the "Songs of Joy" Festival at St. Xavier's College of Management and Technology (SXCMT) Patna, the capital of Bihar State in India, on December 17.

The Christmas Carol event in Patna was held strictly by invitation adhering to Covid-19 protocols and featured carols in Hindi, English, Nepali and tribal dialects of Jharkhand.

"The spirit of Christmas is represented in the generosity of ordinary people who went out of their way to comfort and bring relief to those affected by the second wave of covid," said Archbishop Sebastian Kallupura of Patna, who graced the occasion.

In the welcome address, Jesuit Father Tomy Nishaant, principal of SXCMT, recalled the core message of the Christmas season. The priest expressed "how music and songs have been an inseparable part of the celebration of the Christmas Season in every age and all corners of the earth."

"The music of Christmas carries the universal language of hope, love, and compassion," Father Nishaant said.

The Jesuit priest said the event "Songs of Joy" is not so much competition. "But a reason for all of us to come together and give our students and young people a platform on which to hone their God-given talents."

"The most beautiful thing about it was that many of the choirs had non-Christian singers," Seema Kisku, a member of the local unit the All India Catholic University Federation, told RVA News.

Alan Cowell, a leading member of the Anglo-Indian community in Patna, acknowledged the atmosphere of fear amid the spread of the Omicron virus and violent attacks of religious minorities.

"Such friendly song festivals bring a sense of community, dispel fear and build bridges of understanding," Cowell says.

"I am glad to see the tradition being carried on," said Jesuit Father Arun Ignatius, former director of Bihar's regional institute for Catholic Communication RAVI Bharati.

The event, "Songs of Joy," was started in Ravi Bharati in 2000 and continued unbroken for 17 long years, he recalled.

"It is good to see that the Mass Communication Department of SXCMT is keeping up the same spirit," Father Ignatius said.

A schoolteacher accompanying one of the teams expressed her joy to be part of the event after two years.

"Watching and listening to the beautiful carols after a gap of almost two years brought tears to my eyes because the last time I was at such an event was with my mother-in-law, who passed away in April from Covid. Yes, Hope is the word and comfort that the carols bring, as if the Lord says, 'Even though all this pain, I am still there,'" she said.

"Only a few days ago, some sections of the local media created a hue and cry when Tejaswi Yadav (the opposition leader in the Bihar State Assembly) married a Christian girl. It was pathetic and laughable to see how little the anchors knew about Christians. For such events, you should not only invite Bishops and leading Christian leaders, but non-Christian luminaries as well, so that they better know some of our traditions," said Monadeepa, a health worker who participated in the event.

The Christian population of Bihar stands at 0.12 percent.

Vytik Vinod, a student and youth leader from Grace Church, who also volunteered to manage the sound stage for the program, said it was 'both an uplifting and learning experience' and hoped that the festival could be held on a larger scale involving Christian youth and choirs from the different denominations in the city.

The evening featured performances from High school and college students in Hindi, regional languages and English. St. Karen's Secondary School won the first prize with 'Khush hai Dharti Khush Aasman hai'; Nursing College of Kurji Holy Family Hospital captivated the audience with a lively Nepali song 'Ukali Orali Herera' was placed second, Don Bosco Academy took third prize for 'O Yesh La la.'

In the English segment, the soulful rendition of 'Carol of the Bells' by Patna Women's College took first place, 'O What a Glorious Night' by Don Bosco Academy was adjudged the next best performance, St Karen's Secondary school sang 'My Favourite Time of the Year' for third place.

Clubs, Associations, Youth Groups and others formed another category, where top honours were taken by St. Karen's School Teachers, Sanjivan Nivas Brothers, and Don Bosco Academy Teachers.