The Rediscovery of Magic

I was the girl who believed in Santa Claus and Harry Potter. Not just when I was little, I grew up into that girl too. I loved the excitement around festivals, loved gifting my people stuff on Christmas and loved dancing with complete abandon. 

Then I grew up. 

The thing about growing up is that you lose your rose tinted glasses. It's not a fab thing. 

But this year, something happened. Something incredible. 

Something that made me believe in magic again. 

Not the hocus pocus kind of magic. But the goodness of people, of warmth. 

I joined a chain on Facebook called #GiftaBook . The idea was simple enough - you send a book to a specific friend of a friend and get 6 more people to join the chain. The concept works such that if everyone does it right, you can get back as many as 36 books. 

Ever the skeptic, I reasoned that even if I got back 2 or 3 books, it would be fun to be a part of this. So I sent off mine, Miss Funny Bones by Twinkle Khanna, one that I loved reading recently. 

And then it happened. Books started pouring in. Literally pouring in. And it wasn't just the fact that people sent in books. It was the fact that people took time to think of what book made a difference in their lives and sent that. Some even went to the extent of finding out my wishlist and sent me books from that. One realised that he sent me a book I already had, so he sent me another! Complete strangers, whom I do not know, neither will I ever have any other interaction with them, took time out to make my day. Some wrote little handwritten notes and wished me Merry Christmas. Told me what the book meant to them and hoped I would enjoy it too. 

This is, undeniably, one of the most incredible experiences of my life. 

Santa Claus may not be an old hefty man in red. This year, my Santa or rather Santas were people like you and me. Sprinkled across the web of Facebook. Weaving magic, one book at a time. 

Don't listen to the cynics. Magic exists. I found it this Christmas.  

Dear Santa...here's what I wish for this Christmas

Hope your Christmas was lovely and surrounded by warmth. My parents raised me to love the spirit of Christmas. We always had a Christmas tree and thought of what gifts we wanted from Santa.

God has been kind and I can now buy myself whatever little I may desire. So this year, I drew up a list that I wanted from Santa that cost more than just a little green paper.

Here's my Dear Santa letter. It's all I want for Christmas....no tall ask this :)

Read the article here.  

A traveller's Christmas

It is 10pm on Christmas and I'm tucked in my warm quilt after a dinner of Maggi and sausages, tired as hell but happy. I had a lovely day today...as is fast becoming a Christmas tradition, we packed our car and drove off out of the city, this time towards Garh Mukteshwar.

Enroute, we stopped at the famous Shiva Dhaba and had lovely kulhar chai with delicious pakodas. They were even kind enough to heat the paranthas mom had carried from home. The pakoras were crisp and yummy, highly recommended. We also stopped to walk into a sugarcane field and took some gorgeous snaps of the farms.

Chatting up with a farmer and hearing stories of progressive India. He has 4 daughters, all having done their post graduation and one living in London.

A Yash Raj set....train in the background, sarson ke khet, village boys running....ghar aaja pardesi tera des bulae re :)

The closest that the Holy Ganges comes to Delhi, people from the city flock to Garh Mukteshwar to wash off their sins. If you remain with the obvious, you'll see a dirty ghat on the banks of a muddy river crowded with touts pestering you. But if you can see beyond that, you may see what I saw. A brave display of faith, with people of all ages taking a dip in the icy water. Or the stalls that sold the most innovative little toys for kids (yes, my Sonu went crazy)! Or as the highlight for me is in any trip- hot lipsmacking food.

The ghats

The streets near the ghat selling interesting lil stuff

We asked around and the locals unanimously pointed us towards Raju halwai who's famous for his khasta kachori and puri sabzi. The puris were gobbled up in no time at all, especially as they were accompabied by a tangy kaddu sabzi, aalu sabzi and methi dana chutney.

200kms driven, a day full of laughter, surrounded by family, enjoying all that my gorgeous country has to offer. A very merry christmas indeed!!

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Jingle bells all the way!

Merry Christmas you beautiful people! There is something so contagious about this festival. Most of us have no idea of its significance yet we love to celebrate it.

Sipping hot tea in 3°C, Christmas brings a smile to my face. For the years that have gone by. Thanks Santa for always keeping my stockings full..even when i refused to grow up.



My fav Christmas memory is in college. In a city as un-Christmasy as it gets, Ahmedabad, me and my enthu friends decide to spread some joy. So we get our red outfits out, buy tons of sweets and start giving them out to random kids on CG road. What was surprising is that we actually had to convince most to take them from us..people just couldn't understand what came over us :)

I love the fact that I can now create this magic in my doll, my chotu, my sonu's life. I can spark her dreams and wonderment.

Ho ho ho you all. Merry Christmas. Tell those you love that you love them. What use is love if it not be told?

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