Christian community finalising preparations for Dec 25

Islamabad: With the Christmas date approaching fast, the Christian community across the country including twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is busy finalising their preparation to celebrate their religious festival with zeal and fervour tomorrow (December 25).

A report aired by a private news channel said, many people in the city are visiting markets to finalise their Christmas shopping. Parents, especially, are facing a daunting task of finding the perfect gifts for their children and number of Christian families can be witnessed in Bazaar and markets for buying clothes, shoes and other commodities relating to the Christmas day from dawn to dusk.

Christian families remained busy throughout the day preparing festive food items and ornated homes with Christmas decoration. People bought pudding, rich plum cakes, hunter beef and dry fruits, storekeepers. Several large stores and hotels erected meticulously decorated Christmas trees to celebrate the event, whereas many restaurants were booked for Christmas dinner. We are eagerly waiting to observe the Christmas day with religious zeal and enthusiasm, said Baber Maseeh. Another Christian girl said Christians are going to cook different types of food to celebrate the holiday. Everyone is excited for Christmas, said Nomi a local Christian.

Christmas shopping is under full swing and people are buying presents left, right and centre for their loved ones, he added. Streets, houses and shops in several Christian communities, churches, missionary schools and institutions in Islamabad are also lit up with colourful lights, said a citizen of Islamabad.

There is no Christmas without the Christmas tree, said Sundus Roger, a visitor in F-7 market in Islamabad. We are looking for the one that fits our home and is also affordable she said.

On the other hand, huge crowd was witnessed at the sweets shops and food outlets across the country for special Christmas decorated cakes, baskets of delicious cookies and hand-crafted chocolates besides other cuisines. For the festival, bakers and sweet shops introduced the best styles and innovative ideas for the decorative Christmas cakes to attract the customers, said a Baker Zeeshan Ahmad.