All Saints' Day celebrations are a happy blend of serious reflection and merrymaking. Though All Saints' was established in July 1869, the All Saints' Day is celebrated on the 1st of November, as it is the feast of All Saints. The celebrations begin the evening before with a most beautiful and solemn Church service - The Even Song. After the service the students light up the school in the soft glow of 'diyas', which are now replaced by equally beautiful electric lights. A bonfire in the nippy night accompanied with singing and dancing rounds off the day on a happy note. But the celebrations do not quite end there. The Lady of the Attic appears in the senior dormitories on the stroke of midnight with sweets for some and bones for the others. For the moment all forget that the Lady of the Attic are girls of Class XII dressed as witches and ghosts. They all join in the fun and some get actually scared out of their wits. Perhaps the origin of this tradition lies in the fact that the world over it is celebrated as Halloween Day too. |
