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  "If it's X-mas, it must be Little England" - MRIDULA CHUNDURI, Tuesday, December 20, 2005 02:47:47 am TIMES NEWS

HYDERABAD: The intoxicating aroma of guava cheese in preparation. Young couples kissing under the mistletoe. Stars hanging from the roofs. The best place to be at Christmas is Little England.

No, you don't have to travel overseas for a taste of vintage British Christmas. Just pop over to South Lalaguda and be overwhelmed by the festivity in the air. South Lalaguda was dubbed Little England ages ago by virtue of being home to the city's Anglo-Indian Community. Since then, nearly 60 per cent of the community has migrated to different parts of the world, but the charm remains.

There are still 120 Anglo-Indian families in the quaint locality. Come Christmas, the numbers swell with expatriates flocking back from Australia, New Zealand, and Canada and South Lalaguda gets back to being Little England."There is no fun in celebrating Christmas in Australia," says Maxwell Farquharson, who moved to Sydney 10 years ago.

"The people stay indoors and have family barbecues, whereas people who grew up in Hyderabad are used to the traditional Christmas Ball and partying. Christmas is very lively here with friends and relatives gathering to celebrate."

In fact, the visiting prodigals bring back authentic Christmas trees, the coniferous variety that is not found here. "There is nothing like being home for Christmas," says Lesliann DeMello, who lives with her husband and kids in Dubai. "Here, we have cousins and friends in every street and the festivities never end."
Lesliann hails from the McLeod family, one of the oldest Anglo-Indian families in Little England. With 14 children, 26 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, the family makes quite a splashat any Christmas party.
With a week to go to the big day, it's time for hectic shopping. Then there are the Christmas sweets to be concocted: guava cheese, a wheat flour delicacy called Kalkas, coconut sweets, milk confections, rose cookies and wine.

What's Christmas without wine? Many of the South Lalaguda families make their own wine. "Wine is must at Christmas. People buy bottles by the dozen. Though many prefer grape flavour, I make and stock apple, amla, and pomegranate flavours," said Brendon Paul Vaz who has been making and selling home-made wine in Lalaguda for the past 10 years.

After attending midnight mass on Christmas eve, the families sit down to a Christmas meal of roast chicken turkey not being commonly available in Hyderabad.Then they all set out to visit relatives and friends to exchange sweets and yuletide merriment.