It’s
the most beautiful time of the year; Lights fill the street spreading so much
cheer……….goes
a famous Justin Bieber song.
This in fact is the most beautiful time of the year. Christmas is just around the corner. Snow has started playing hide and seek. The shopping malls, local shops, eateries, online stores are all booming with Christmas goodies. I’ve ordered a Santa cap… yes the red and white one… like the one Santa Claus wears. No, I am not interested in donning the complete costume. But I’m very much interested in Santa Claus and in this magical festival. Christmas has always been my favorite festival though we have never celebrated in the usual manner. We visit the church and order sumptuous dinner from ‘Diamond’. Sometimes we also decorate our ‘Araucaria’.
As a kid when we didn’t
have access to cable T.V., all we watched was Doordarshan channel (DD-I)…btw
it’s still the most viewed channel in India. During Christmas season DD-I used to
telecast X-Mas specials; stories about Jesus Christ (Yeshu), creative shows
that used to teach children how to make greeting cards and mini Christmas trees and children in
groups singing carols.
Me and my sis used to
hang our stockings by our bedside on 25th night. Every year we
forgot that this ritual is to be performed on Christmas Eve i.e. on 24th.
Well, this could be the reason we never got a gift from Santa Claus. But when
we grew up we made sure that our little brother always got something from Santa.
I was a regular reader
of a magazine called ‘Nandan’ as a kid. Besides jungle fables and tales about
Indian mythology it also contained stories of Hans Andersen translated in
Hindi. Mostly they were about Elves, snow, presents, poor kids and Christmas. I
remember reading them at night and thinking about them while trying to fall asleep.
I had the habit of purposely thinking about certain things at bedtime so that I
could dream accordingly. But this idea never yielded any fruits. Dreams cannot
be preplanned. I have the most vivid and interesting dreams that are completely unrelated
to what I have done in the day or thought about at bedtime.
One December night,
when I was ten year old, I saw a small red house in my dream. The house
belonged to Santa Claus. I reckon that the house was two storied with slanting
roof and glittering walls. It was dark everywhere and only the beautiful bright
house was visible. When I woke up all I
wanted was that house. I tried to make a similar one with the help of cardboard
pieces, glaze paper and fevicol. But it needed support and couldn’t stand on
its own. I also unsuccessfully tried replacing cardboard with thermocol. My
parents were not at home that day so I dedicated my whole day to this mission. An
aunty from neighborhood tried to help me but to no avail. If I were one of
today’s kids I could have easily bought the house online or got one made one
from the nearby shopkeeper who makes student’s school projects for a few bucks.
Another thing I
remember was the Christmas parties that our dolls attended. The dress code was always White, Red or
Green. A combination of these three
colors was always welcome.
I have always loved
everything about Christmas. The tree, the bells, the presents, the snow, the
feel of ‘Home Alone’, Christmas episodes of ‘Friends’, the Christmas pictures
in my ‘ The Little Match girl’ book, the title of the Mills & Boon story ‘The Christmas
Night Miracle’, and even the special
cartoons that ran on cartoon Network whole day on Christmas. The feel of the
sound of Christmas carols mixed with the sound of gushing snowy winds is so heavenly.
Yes I believe in magic
of Christmas and also the existence of Santa Claus. HO HO.
