Mangaluru: An agriculturalist from Kokkada, inspired by spiritual leaders, has been spreading Christmas joy and awareness about the environment for the past 25 years by moving to various places in the district.
When Christmas is a few days away, dressed as Santa Claus, Vincent Menezes embarks on a journey from his home on a decorated motorbike for two days every year. He travels through Uppinangady and Bantwal to reach Mangaluru. In the city, he visits schools and colleges to entertain and convey the message of environmental conservation. He also distributes Christmas cakes in orphanages, spreading the joy.
“I started this initiative in 2000 and this year completes 25 years. Initially, I started to travel from Kokkada to Shirady Ghat, and over the period, I expanded my reach with the inclusion of Mangaluru on the list and also the last stop,” shared Menezes.
For the first 10 years, I used to take this journey between Dec 24 to 25, but I stopped after my family insisted that I must be home to celebrate the festival with them. Afterwhich, I take up this before the start of the festival and end before Christmas,” said Menezes, adding that he finished this year’s initiative on Friday.
Vincent has shown even more uniqueness this time. He has decorated his vehicle with balloons and added slogans like ‘Make the environment plastic-free,’ ‘Lead a drug-free life,’ and ‘Grow trees for a clean India and conserve the environment’. “My aim is just to spread festival joy and also create awareness about drugs and plastic-free society and conserve the environment. I have been dressing as Santa Claus for 25 years. It brings me immense joy and inspires a harmonious Christmas celebration. Public cooperation has been excellent,” added Vincent.
About who inspired him, Vincent said that he has been dressing as Santa Claus in the church since 1994 to deliver messages during Christmas. After being advised by Valerian Louis, then priest of Kokkada Church, to do this publicly, he started his tours in 2000.
This year, Vincent travelled to Allipade from Kokkada along the way. He visited govt schools along the route and delivered awareness messages through the loudspeaker on his vehicle. He taught students lessons on environmental conservation.
After reaching Mangaluru, he visited selected orphanages. He halted his vehicle at bus and rickshaw stands, attracting people to explain messages against the use of plastic and environmental awareness.

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