Quest for A Perfect Christmas


Christmas spirit is incomplete without Santa
My 5-year-old asked “We don’t have a chimney. How would Santa come into our home, eat his cookies and leave my presents under the tree?” This had been bugging him from past 10 days. His incessant botheration meant that I turned my energies towards securing a perfect Christmas for him. I am happy to share that his Christmas turned out to be great. 

How I did it? To resolve my son’s conundrum, during the wee hours of Christmas I wore my winter armour (snow jacket, snow boots, gloves and snow pants) and stepped out in my backyard. I walked till the fence balancing myself on the soft snow and bending sideways drew with my finger something which resembled reindeer footprints. I retraced my steps back carefully to avoid duplication of my footprints. For a moment I felt like a gymnast whose balancing act on snow could earn him a medal in the Olympics. My son woke up, came downstairs and by the kitchen window saw his presents. However, he was jumping and dancing with glee upon seeing the reindeer and Santa footsteps in the backyard.  

Why I did that? I can never answer that question. All I can say is that one cannot run away from it. The spirit of Christmas is as wonderful as the world itself. To experience this spirit one has to prepare himself in a unique way, to understand that it is part magic and part history. And it is a marketing blizzard which has no parallel in the history of the world. 

I spent hours in a big box store to find gifts for my family and friends. Then I stood in check-out line and waited for my turn to pay. And when my turn came, the card-swiping machine at the cashier counter froze. “The machines are slow today” said the lady at the cash counter with a smile. “They worked hard. We humans take breaks but these machines only get to take breaks at midnight when the store is closed.” She added with a broader smile. I nodded my head in agreement and smiled back without giving much thought to it. Machine buzzed back and made my bank account lighter. I hauled my gifts through the mall and walked across a large parking lot before finding my car in the lot. I felt lighter after dumping everything in my car boot. After all this hard work, I was resembling a peasant who has toiled hard under the summer sun for whole day. 

Christmas is done to perfection here in Canada. In India, malls are decked-up with lights, huge plastic trees decorated with cotton balls to give effect of snow flakes are placed in all public places and special Christmas cakes are available in all bakeries. And that’s, the end of it. Here, these things are a given in each and every household and it goes beyond this. And trees are covered in white snow. 

Snow clad trees
Christmas decorations in McDonald's
Most of the public places started playing carols from the beginning of December. That marked the beginning of festive mood. The jolliness and merriment continues for whole month. But real joy comes from the holiday special food available in many bakeries and cafes. There’s peppermint cookies, gingerbread cookies, snowman cookies, nanaimo bars and many more. Everything is either sugary or fried or both. After coming face-to-face to such yummy treats, I realised that to remain jolly during this festive season, I should stop fretting about my calorie intake. And that’s what I did. 

Just stop counting the calories, spread the joy and enjoy the festivities. Because it’s a season to be jolly….



  

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