By Vivek Anand

Christmas! Aha the word itself is so enchanting and mesmerizing that it feels as adrenaline rushing & pumping throughout my body. Its not just a day, it’s a festival, a desire, a journey, an experience of joy and exhilaration, celebration and of course how can I forget giving and receiving gifts & above all love from my near and dear ones.

As a kid whenever I thought of Christmas my eyes started glittering with the dream of celebrations. Lights, candles, decorations, feast, I couldn’t have asked for more. A long list of my desires penned down onto a roll of paper and kept beneath my pillow, only to get up in the morning and find most of them fulfilled. Yes that’s Santa Claus for me, my friend, who turned my dreams and desires into reality.

Long days of shopping at the mall with my mom and my little sister, collecting all kinds of decorative and gifts for loved ones and in the evening playing good music with parents and their friends having a feast while sipping their favorite wine. It was awesome, an out of the world experience. I had never in my life felt so elated but at Christmas.

The significance of Christmas is the fact that lord Jesus was born on this day, but it means much more to people as not only they celebrate the lord’s birth but an episode of happiness, prosperity and vitality. I remember going to church on Christmas Eve, saying my silent prayers, then lighting candles at the grotto and finally singing Christmas carols with the choir. It seems as if the whole environment, the entire world has come together to celebrate this festival with light and joy.

In most part of the world the climatic conditions are colder this month of the season and people enjoy dancing around and binging on their favorite food. The best Christmas celebration I remember is of my school days. There was complete chaos and mayhem before the day, as we had to prepare for a lot of activities and decorations at the school. I remember, fighting and arguing with my friends & fellow students about who would become Santa Claus for that year and I indeed got a chance to become one after being much persistent.

I was dressed up in huge red color Santa pants and a jacket, stuffed with cotton to inflate my belly, thick white moustache and beard with a heavy bag full of chocolates. Friends closer to me insisted I give them extra chocolates but I advised that Santa has been impartial all his life and will continue to be that way. We called a singer called bobby cash (I still remember his name) who played jingles and some scintillating numbers with his guitar (and how can I forger his cowboy hat and dingo shoes).

For me “Nostalgia”, is the word synonymous with Christmas as whenever I think of December 25, the big day, I go back to my childhood days. The days of “Christmas”