The ladies wing of our Church celebrated a pre-Christmas get-together to set the mood for the big day. Each group presented a variety of programmes like Christmas carols and biblical skits, trying to outdo the rest. The climax of the evening was the arrival of Santa Claus.
Our Vicar, knowing that it was an all-women gathering, announced, “And here comes Mother Christmas!”, much to our chagrin. A sprightly potbellied Santa burst into the scene with the usual ‘Ho ho ho’, throwing chocolates to all and sundry and speaking in a highly accented mock foreign language. Her gibberish was ‘translated’ by an assistant, who was the real wit behind the act, as she had to make sense of what she was saying without losing its punch, speaking impromptu and pulling the legs of those present. The crowd was in splits as she did not spare even the priests, who took it sportingly. I was wondering who the person was, as she was doing a good job at it. The only clues were her hands and her bangles, seen from beneath her sleeves! A little detective work would do the job but all in good time, I thought.
Meanwhile, I was taken back several years to when my younger son was in LKG in Kuwait and had gone for a similar Christmas function in his school. He came home all excited in his suited and booted uniform with a red monkey cap, looking much like a Santa himself, thanks to the Kuwaiti winter, and was telling me all about the day’s events. Incidentally, from a very young age, my son had a fascination for sparkling stones on jewellery and noticed it, quite unusual for a boy.
Continuing with his childish chatter about how Santa had come and given gifts to all the kids, he paused for a moment as if in deep thought. “What happened ? Didn’t you get any gifts?” I asked. “Not that…,” he said, still pondering. To my further prodding, almost as if thinking aloud, he said with furrowed eyebrows, “How come Santa Claus had Smitha ma’am’s ear-rings?”
We had a tough time trying to control our laughter. We kept a straight face as we couldn’t reveal the truth to him then. After all, what is childhood, if not for some mystery and make-believe? A whole lifetime was ahead of him to handle the troubles of reality.
The generation of innocence is giving way to the era of ‘cyber kids’, who make us look like fools before them. Nostalgia fills the mind thinking of the days when one could sing with innocence, “Santa looked a lot like daddy!”
Email: kitty.koshy@gmail.com