My Santa does not have a white beard nor a moustache…

Christmas has always held magic for all children over the world including me when I was one..      

My parents were very eclectic as many Indians are back in India. Our school would have a Christmas play every year..I was even chosen to play one of the three wise men when I was just seven..( ours was an all girls school and no real guys around to fill the parts). I remember my lines ran something like this..“We three kings of orient lands..carrying gifts we travel afar”..in fact in life I did have to travel afar and alone to come here to Canada.where I eventually met the Love of my life..Brian..yet .Looking back at those School days I recall that I was also chosen to once play Robin Hood  and then a highway robber at the school plays..good thing I never landed up with any one of those career choices L.

This Christmas my Cowboy Brian , his mother Irene and I joined in the traditional Christmas celebration of his family to spend the three days from the 24^th , 25th to the 26^th at his sister Karen’s home with her three cute kids ( Nicole, David and Steven) and her husband Greg.. in New Castle Ontario and it was truly a fun filled and happy Christmas occasion..

December 2013 the GTA ( Greater Toronto area) was hit by storm after storm ..leading to black outs and minus 30 degree temperatures with the wind chill..making this one of the roughest winters on record in many many years..it all happened around the pre Christmas days and though the ice storm and white Christmas make for beautiful pictures..they leave much devastation in their wake..The Toronto municipality spent millions in the clean up..not to speak of fallen tree branches…power outages..accidents on `Black ice” a terminology which only those living in cold countries would understand . This leads to accidents and disrupted public transport..

Brian and I spent a good many hours commuting to the Eaton centre down town to get our last minute Christmas gift shopping done the morning after the storm wrecked havoc..it all added to the atmosphere of an unforgettably romantic Christmas ..

Karen and Greg were generous to host the family tradition though they too in New Castel had been plunged into 48 hours of darkness..just before we arrived..The food was preserved in the snow banks in the back yard and tea and coffee brewed on the barbeque…luckily the lights and heat were back on when we guys arrived..

 I think Christmas day is the most looked forward day in the life of  a child and early in the morning..my beloved Mother called from India to wish me and say that she had seen the Ice storm on CNN.. her loving voice from far away and her love and blessings to all made my Christmas morning special..later watching the eagerness of the kids waiting to open their presents took me back to my own childhood. Back to India..where my father and mother had taught us that it is more blessed to give than to receive..I suddenly had a flash of memory of the big brown shining eyes of the poor children who would gather at the temple of Sri Sarada Math in Pune india..on Christmas eve.. to receive their gifts and their treats from the `Sanyassinis' and how blessed we all were to be part of their happiness…how little the children there had  in worldly belongings. How content  and grateful they were with what little they had...I wish the rich and privileged would learn from that..

In Canada the only thing I find strange during Christmas is how afraid people are to say Merry Christmas or celebrate the birth of the messiah in the streets because that would offend “ people of other faiths” ..

In India the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Krishna Govinda...of The Taj Mahal and a billion people ..Christmas is celebrated in parliament and in the streets..people of all religions  greet each other and grin and share a few laughs.

Few people in Canada know that in the Vedanta society of Toronto Canada and in all the Vedanta centres in USA..which are not churches but temples..Christmas is not only venerated and celebrated ..but followers of totally different faiths listen with respect  to a Bible reading and solemnly worship Christ with hymns and prayers and a lot of faith. They have understood the true spiritual meaning behind the advent of this great Messiah..which is respect, tolerance  and love for all..somehow the politicians and many of the `Evangelist prophets' who preach intolerance to other faiths have missed the message..

 Back to the home of Karen and Greg..as the children and grown ups gasp and cheer as they open their gifts. I am touched that Brian’s mother Mrs Irene as I call here has given me with an open and generous heart as much as she has to her  daughter and grand daughter....tears come to my eyes and say..” To me Santa does not have  a white beard and moustache. He is  a sweet women with a heart of gold..” She has saved her Bingo winnings through the year to give us all such beautiful gifts and it makes her giving so much more prescious..
and then I say to Karen's husband Greg that he is a father with the heart of a Mother as it is he who enthusiastically cooks dinner and break fast for us..and 'sister with a sister's heart' Karen makes us all feel at home..I break into laughter as a I open yet another gift from Brian's Mom.. a pair of deep red Tiger print pyjamas..

“ Do they have Tigers in India ?”asks Cowboy Brian jokingly..” yeah” I say..”we guys invented the Tiger..Just as you guys invented the Racoon and Polar bear..

I look at him and realize how blessed I am to have a love such as his in my life..I am a  from far away India and I came here alone..he a third generation Canadian man of Scottish and American heritage..we come from different parts of the globe..yet we met and loved and that love shows us that Love has no boundaries.does not know religion or colour or language and when it is true..it is almost a spiritual experience because selfishness does not exist in true love..Love does not wait for us every day ..it comes to us only one or twice in a life time..sometimes we take those who love us truly and unconditionally such as our parents love for granted..when they have gone..just as my Dad left this world when he was just in his early 50s..we realise how lonely and empty this world really is.....
Many people who have to spend a period of their lives alone in their struggles..whether they be soldiers on foreign shores..or immigrants who migrate alone..the search for true love becomes everything for them..that search can be a journey by itself. it can lead to great hurt and harm if the wrong people sensing your vulnerability enter your life and try to destroy you..but your heart is pure and your faith strong..oneday you will meet the right person..and when you find whatever it is you are looking for..you always cherish and honour it..because you know how rare and precious it can be.
Our Love has grown deeper and stronger over the years and we are best freinds, lovers and more..we both reached out to encompass our families and all those who know us..and at the end of each day..we can look at each other and love and laugh and continue to experience each moment as if each day is just a new beginning....

Brian's niece Nicole has a cute little guniea pig named `Hershey' who spends more time with her dad Greg than with her..Brian and me had a warm blanket as  a gift for the piggy too..who incidentally had three shades..brown, beige and blonde…well as they say Blondes have more fun! ( and this one is a guy) ! Hershey and I always spend a lot of time together whenever I visit and I have actually seen him looking at me `hypnotically' as if trying to communicate with his deep and beautiful little beady dark eyes....some sweet message from his liitle world to mine..yes little one you truly have me hypnotized....!
That takes me back to memories of my school days and beautiful song which we would sing in the assembly hall before the classes began..
 It went something like this...

All things bright and beautiful,   All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: The Lord God made them all.

Each little flow’r that opens,Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings.

The purple-headed mountains,The river running by,
The sunset and the morning That brightens up the sky.
The cold wind in the winter,The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,He made them every one.

The tall trees in the greenwood,The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,To gather every day.
He gave us eyes to see them,And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,Who has made all things well.All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful: The Lord God made them all.

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