Ileana D'Cruz: Mum put up fairy lights all over the house

Ileana D'Cruz. Pic/Andrew Kneebone

Ileana D'Cruz
Actor
Goan Catholic
Grew up in Mahim, Goa

We always hang out with family on Christmas, we always take that time off. It's a lot of presents, lots of food, and bickering with each other. It's a loud, happy get-together for our family.

For me, it's been about the presents. I used to love sneaking down at three or four in the night, just to see what presents I got. We've grown up now, but it's still so magical. I love the lights and the Christmas tree. But, presents are reminiscent of my childhood. I love the happiness that comes with Christmas. In Goa, we used to have a big celebration because we had a really big house and my mum would put up fairy lights all over the place. I did feel she went a little overboard with the lights, but it looked amazing.

I used to visit church, but not anymore. We would go to people's houses, but because of the kind of person I am, I love staying home and having people over. We would give out sweets to the neighbourhood. But, honestly, it wasn't as exciting as making the sweets and being part of the whole celebration within the house. We would help out our mum, and we'd make whatever shapes we'd like. Over the past few years, what has been my tradition is to make crème brûlée at home.

It has been six years since I've been living in Mumbai. It has become a bit more difficult for all of us to be together as a family because we're so spread out across the world. One sibling is in Australia, the other two are in America, and mum's there as well. One Christmas I spent all by myself here, which was not good. I'm really happy because I'll be spending this Christmas with my parents. We try, as much as possible, to celebrate Christmas together. We try to get on one continent as much as we can. If most of us are under one roof, it's Christmas.

How to celebrate Christmas: [When we were kids] my mum would host a party for kids from an orphanage. We would play games and the joy on kids' faces was priceless.

Also read: Christmas: We'd Send Homemade Goodies To The Neighbours, Says Principal Meera Isaacs

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