The truth about Santa Claus

While growing up, Christmas used to be just a fancy festive holiday, for no particular reason for me. I didn’t have any Christian friends till I reached college. So, whatever little knowledge I had about Christmas was only through the EVS textbooks. Carols, Christmas tree, Cake, Candles, Clan, Cards, Cookery, Church.

But, we did try our luck by keeping our school socks hanging near our beds in the hope that this particular guy, Mr. Santa Claus might visit our home, too. No gift ever showed up the next morning. Never ever. May be it is only for the Christian children, was my justification always. Never mind, we get to burst crackers every year. A child’s innocent mind! Wonder which movie stars will perform at this New Year’s programme on the Doordarshan TV show. And then there was the annual top-20 mega show of ‘Cibaca (formerly Binaca) Sangeet Mala’ on the radio. The amazing voice of Ameen Sayani with his trademark ‘Behno aur Bhaiyo’, was something to look forward to. This was all before the invasion of cable TV network and internet.

20 years down the line: My daughter’s play school is celebrating the Christmas party. Red, white and green is the theme of the day. Parents have already submitted the neatly-labelled gifts intended for their wards to the school office. The children have taken great pains to make Christmas cards for their beloved teachers.

Just before leaving for the school in the morning, my daughter asks me, ‘Mamma, is Santa Claus really going to be there?’ I was in a fix as to what to reply to the young inquisitive mind. She is anyway going to get the Dora doll-house that she had always desired. Can I just let her believe in the jolly old fellow for a little while longer and use it to manipulate her for the whole year for being in Santa’s good kids’ list?

My better judgment prevailed. I decided to tell her the unspeakable truth. At the same time, I didn’t want her to stop believing in magic and fairies and angels and unicorns. I told her that each person has his or her own Santa in their lives. Right now, for you, it is Mamma and Papa. The same way, you ought to be someone’s Santa, too, when you are ready for it. My older one is a bit more emotionally matured for her age, and practical, at the same time. So, I also told her that it is statistically impossible for one guy to keep a track of all the children around the world. So, they have allocated this job to their parents. Luckily, parents also know what the child would love to have for Christmas. She seemed to be satisfied with my reply as, back then, she trusted in ‘Mamma knows best.’

Now, in the school, the teachers did their best to have a rocking party with the Christmassy decor and food and music. Towards the end of the party, the Santa Claus arrived with full show and pomp and his loud ‘Ho Ho Ho’. Seeing this rather huge white-bearded guy with a portly belly dressed in the traditional red and white costume with a bell and a sac full of brightly wrapped gifts was the icing on the cake for the children. The mask which the humble old guy was wearing didn’t seem to bother the excited munchkins, but my ever-observant daughter managed to take a tiny peek at the face behind that mask.

When the school got over, my daughter came running to me and screamed at the top of her lungs, ‘Mammaaaaa! Padam Uncle is only Santa Claus!’ (Padam Uncle was their watchman who was chosen to put on the costume that day, given his rather big body type.) All the parents burst out laughing. I dread to think what they would have explained to their children, that day, about their beloved Santa Claus! Deep inside, I was so relieved to have told her the truth in the morning.

On a lighter note, the concept of Santa Claus sounds creepy to me. An aged man, living alone in the God-foresaken North Pole, is keeping a track of ALL the activities of ALL the children ALL around the world, ALL year round. This amounts to stalking, I say. And imagine this: a stranger breaking in through the chimney and entering your house every year in the middle of the night! And, to top it all, he has sort of declared it outright. This announcement of his outrageous deed is equivalent to openly defying the laws of the society! And what is this creepy obsession with socks all about?

These days, we have the concept of Secret Santa picking up, quite a bit. It is a concept where you are randomly assigned a name from a group of people to whom you have to gift something. Only if they would allow us to publish our wish list, too! 

Nevertheless, we all look for our very own Santas in the world; someone who spreads cheer and joys in our lives, irrespective of how we have behaved throughout the year. May we find ours. May someone find us and we become their Santas. Even the teensy-weensy good deeds count. Just look around you. Look beyond your family and friends. Everybody needs this festive cheer. 

Ho! Ho! Ho! Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

P.S.: Never stop believing in Santa Claus.