With Christmas around the corner, the first thing that catches the eye nowadays at St Joseph’s College (Autonomous) is a grand crib Nativity scene made by the staff of the college. Though the star, snowman and the other festive decorations are hard to miss, the crib takes the cake. The man who toiled to help set up the crib is Anil D'Souza, the manager of the college.

The preparations, he said, started in November. He conceptualised the overall layout first and then worked out the finer details. “Thus was I able to plan the amount of time we would have to spend on preparing the decorations for the crib,” he explained. He added, "The raw materials required for the crib did not cost much as most of it was taken from the store room. We reused materials like plywood, pipes, motor and sand, and ensured zero wastage. The only items ought were beads, seeds and statues."

Elaborating on the procedure, he said: “A lot of effort and thought went into the planning. My goal was to make it as realistic as possible and hence I built buildings belonging to different classes, like the palace and the shed and a well." He added: "We made sure to work during the holidays so classes and students wouldn’t be disturbed.”