Thiruvananthapuram:
In jolly carols and Santa Clauses dressed in red, the sights and sounds were like any other Christmas gathering but for the setting which happened to be a Kerala hospital ward filled with mostly abandoned, ageing patients.
The ward in Thiruvananthapuram's General Hospital is where destitute patients, mostly abandoned by their loved ones, are treated.
"My grandmother passed away 16 days ago and today is an important day but it's sharing the Christmas joy with these old patients in this hospital that will be the biggest tribute I can give her," AP Prejish, who heads a debating society, Nirbhaya, in Thiruvananthapuram, said.
Patients in the ward have always been far more than the beds. For most of them, it has been a long time that they attended a family celebration or a church service. Therefore, hearing a priest preach brought back memories for many and opened up a different view for others.
"It's an eye-opening experience because I have hardly an exposure to the world outside my school," Ramya Ramesh a student of KV Pattom said.
Sabira, an undergraduate student, said, "It's a very different experience. We all have celebrated Christmas with family, friends in school but not like this, not from this perspective."