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If all wishes came true for Christmas.....


Christmas wish listMy first heart break happened when I realized that Santa Claus did not exist and all the gifts that I had asked for including the Doll's House actually came not from North Pole , but Hobby Centre. The Christmas myth was passed down to Chibu - who would expectantly rummage the socks excitedly on Christmas mornings. And write notes to Santa.....As I grew up my last "christmas abdaar" before I got married  to Baba was to visit a mountain and fly in an aeroplane - and lo - we went off to Darjeeling and spent a magical Christmas of '84....my last solo holiday with my parents. This Sunday , when Baba gasped for breath and I rushed him in an ambulance I found myself wishing again for a Christmas gift....I wanted him back home before Christmas. His usual self ! Last evening as we stood outside the hospital gate Bhaskar sensed my tension and said "Think of the parents at Peshawar"- and in that blare of ambulance sirens and sombre mass of faces it was a close reality -and for the first time I felt no pride in being part of the human race....and I knew no amount of Christmas wish list would bring back the hugs and kisses of those little palms and lips!Hospitals are great levelers.......



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