Wake up Santa Claus!!!!

It was 12’, midnight; I was tired but refused to go to bed as I was waiting for Santa Claus to come.The decorations were over by 11:00pm. New clothes were unpacked and ironed again. Dim lights covered the room, giving it a starry night look. In the background was the jingling music being played on the cassette player by Xavier, my small brother. Everything was well set to welcome the new born baby Jesus for it was the eve of 24th December. As the clock stroked 12’ I, being energized, jumped and hugged my Dad. Tired and annoyed within, he disengaged himself from my hug and said: “Bernard, go to bed; tomorrow we have to go for the Holy Mass.” I retaliated saying ‘I want Santa Claus, I want to meet him’, may be in a humorous mood, he said “Santa Claus is sleeping, he is tired.” But for a kid like me it was something strange. I knew that he came riding on the reindeer and that they had the ability to fly. The next moment, I ran up to the terrace and began to shout ‘wake up Santa Claus’, ‘wake up!’ ‘It’s Christmas day, where are my gifts, my sweets and presents.’ I shouted aloud and came no reply. The words of my friend Sam started haunting me. He had told me earlier that Santa Claus visits only good children and gives them gifts and not the bad ones. Then I started wondering was I so bad, that he didn’t like to meet me. I waited patiently nearly an hour but nothing happened. My mom came and took me down and put me straight to bed.

The morn came and went, and I felt as if I was all alone and dejected. There were some Santa Claus in the playground near my flat distributing sweets but I never went near him. For me Santa Claus was a huge man with a big belly, a long white beard and carried along with him a big red colored bag filled with gifts and sweets. ‘Wake up Santa Claus’ I murmured, banging my feet on the ground; I went to my room crying. For a kid like me Santa Claus was everything I mean ‘everything’. The Christmas day came and went giving way to the New Year and everything seemed forgotten. The birthday baby was out of my mind and so the dull year ended and the New Year too seemed dull. It took a whole new month of the year for me to cheer up. The love of my parents, brothers and friends seemed of no importance. For me not meeting Santa Claus was a very heart touchy experience. Month joined years and many years passed away.

Now years later when I look back I, see how foolish I was, I rejected the love and gifts of my parents and even forgot to meet the baby Jesus, had only Santa Claus on my mind. I was longing to meet Santa Claus, but in reality he has got nothing to do with Christmas. For us Catholics, the most important thing is the birth of Jesus. But quiet often it goes unseen as we are busy with the decorations, preparations, parties, holidays and Santa Claus, we dedicated these day to wine, beer, cakes and celebrations. Well celebrations are not bad if they do not overshadow the main event, which is the birth of Jesus. He is born to set us free from our sins and to give us life eternal. If we have this king in our hearts; parties and joyful celebrations will ultimately follow us. We will be filled with joy. The presence of the divine will be amid us and we will be forever happy.

Just for not meeting the Santa Claus I gave up my hope. I should have waited for the birthday boy and wished him rather than waiting for the guest who did not come. I had completely forgotten the baby Jesus, but now I no longer wait for Santa Claus, only for Jesus my savior. I no longer say “wake up Santa Claus”