Rounds of lotto, clink of glasses bring colour to Easter celebrations

MUMBAI: Bringing an end to the 40-day austerities of Lent, the Christian community celebrated Easter, the most important festival of the Christian calendar, Sunday. Prolonged abstinence from meat and liquor gave way to non-vegetarian delicacies and the clink of glasses at lunchtime.
Clergymen say the day of Christ's resurrection is proof of his divinity and marks the origin of Christianity, making it more significant than Christmas when he was born.
However, the array of sweets, cakes and goodies seen at Christmastime is scarcely visible in shops during Easter. Small marzipan eggs weighing between 50-100 gm that cost Rs 60-120 were available at select bakeries. “We prepared a small number of hot cross buns, and as you can see, we still have leftovers,” said the owner of a bakery in Four Bungalows market.
Over the past three or four days households have been stocking up on choice wines and liquor in preparation for Easter. “We noticed a marginal rise in sales on Thursday and Friday, and on Holy Saturday, we saw a robust rise as Lent drew to a close,” said a representative of Peekay Wines in Crawford Market.
Catholic gymkhanas are the epicentre of community festivities. After celebrating Easter vigil mass Saturday night, families headed for musical soirees in Bandra and Santa Cruz. Rather than hosting elaborate Easter ball dances, gymkhanas now organise “bumper housie” or lotto games on the morning of the festival.
Sunday night Bandra gymkhana held its annual Easter Social. Around 400 people joined the event which began around 8.30pm and ended past midnight.
Meanwhile, the United Christians of Mumbai led an Easter procession around Byculla. Women wore white outfits while men chose white shirts over black trousers. Organiser Cyril Dara said, “Easter rallies are very different from Good Friday processions that show the Stations of the Cross. This neighbourhood has several non-Christians so we get a chance to inform them of the Holy Resurrection. Otherwise they would simply believe the story ended when Christ died on the crucifix.”
A band of 18 musicians including four singers sang hymns en route while 700-odd people shouted slogans calling out the glory of Christ.