Everything starts on the eve of Christmas, where we stay up till midnight and open the gifts with the same enthusiasm as we did when we were kids. And then, we go to sleep. Being Christians, there is no midnight mass and my parents, brother and I all lazily stock up on sleep till the first of the two main events – breakfast. Everyone sits together at the table for breakfast and it’s a true family event.

Dominic.Pic by Susantha Liyanawate

Then we head off to church together, and straight to my grandparents house for lunch. My grandmother, Dagmar, is in her 80’s but she still has the energy to wake up in the morning to cook. The smell of her homemade ham keeps everyone on their toes and it is truly something I look forward to every Christmas without fail. Everyone’s greeted to this massive spread at lunch and you wait an entire year just for that, simply because you don’t get to eat like that during the rest of the year. My grandmother makes this very special stuffing, which is a secret that she would probably take to her grave. The real Christmas lies in that family lunch, and this has been the same routine for the longest time ever.

We are a very small family, and I have just one cousin. No wonder I’m close to my grandparents. I’m an old fashioned kind of guy. There was this one Christmas we spent a couple of years ago in Nuwara Eliya, but that just didn’t feel right. This year will be a bit more special as I’m moving out and would probably like the family to spend time at my place.

Christmas is about appreciating the fact that you have people you love around you. December is the month that you make the most amount of money as well as spend the most amount. Nobody has any second thoughts about spending cash, because hey, it’s all in good spirit.

Christmases past: Dominic (left) with mom and baby brother

One of the more frightening things about Christmas is the horrendous last minute shopping.

Yes, I’m one of those last-minute shoppers. I had a girlfriend last year for Christmas (the first time I had one during Christmas) and went through a real ordeal trying to get her a present the night before Christmas.

I was working till about seven in the night, and went around looking for Christmas gifts in the mad traffic. Eventually I ended up buying a little pendant from a little jewellery shop at literally the 11th hour. Shop smart, shop early people!

There were very few plays that I took part in during the Christmases of the years gone by. My dad would always put his foot down and say no to anything during Christmas.

But now times have changed and you have jobs of your own and finances to think about. People are more concerned about shopping, and even how much money you are going to earn.

That’s the way the world is and I suppose we should all move along with it.

Christmas productions are nice because you get to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to the audience in the end and that’s something I secretly love doing.

So, this is my Christmas and you’d probably catch me humming ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ every now and then.