Does Santa Exist ?...

24th December 2015, 11.30 pm

Folks - Wanted to share with you a conversation held few minutes ago that prompted me to go down the memory lane and ink it. This has come out a bit longer than I expected but felt like sharing with you- will be happy to have your feedback, especially since this is my maiden attempt here.

Dad, is there really a Santa Claus?
This was indeed a tricky one to answer especially since my angel is now Nine years old. I was caught between the thought - should I tell her the truth, does she know the truth & she is keeping pace with the act; or does she still believe in it.

Over all these years, we made her believe that Santa was keeping an eye on how well behaved she was throughout the year and accordingly would present a gift. She continued to strongly believe this in the beginning and there were times when she had innocently asked me that some of her friends mentioned - "There is no Santa and it's just the parents who do this" !!

That X'mas eve, She wanted to really see it for herself and kept clinging on to me struggling to be awake well past midnight. Both of us were taken over by the sleep and I was woken up by her in the morning from her lil bed. I can still recollect the gleaming eyes with which she showed me the gifts that Santa had kept for her.

Santa did exist at least then for the 07 year old !!...I woke up with really sore eyes as that was the longest that I was awake on a X'mas eve ever :)

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The next X'mas eve she wanted a different clarification- some of her friends had mentioned to her that Santa did not exist in their religion and some wiser ones conveyed they had even seen their parents place the gifts !!
My answer to her then was that Santa was beyond any religion or nationality, he was purely a messenger of God who is assigned the task of sharing happiness only if kindness in the world had prevailed during the year.
As for some of the kids having seen their parents- it could have been that for those kids Santa had used his supernatural powers to make the parents do his task through them and erase their memory for that moment. Hence none of those parents ever remember doing it.

This seem to have worked and also she still remembered the previous X'mas eve where she had put me to sleep and even then had her gifts.

Santa continued to exist, that year too !!

**
Coming back to where I started this narration- She is 09 years old now and had once again asked me - Does Santa exist ?
While I was at the crossroads in my thoughts judging her query. She said- even if Santa exists she had a feeling, this year Santa may not come.
Now, I didn't expect that- and hence asked her what made her feel Santa wouldn't come this X'mas.
In a somber voice she said - "the Paris episode" and also made references to the ghastly acts of guns being used at the schools in US. I could see tears swelling up in her eyes partly due to this unkind acts and the balance being possible absence from Santa.

I gave her a hug and asked her if she had done her act of kindness this year. She acknowledged she did, and had continued irrespective.
I said to her, that is all which counts- "no matter what happens around us, what stays relevant is whether we did our act of kindness".
Santa keeps a count of ONLY our act of kindness and accordingly reciprocates.

Was happy to see the Smile back on her face as now it appeared to her, if Santa existed there is no reason why he wouldn't come, since she felt she had been kind through the year- at times :)

Santa will exist this X'mas too !!
And till I can, I would want the Santa to continue to exist for her every year hereon....at least to mark her "Act of Kindness" that year ...

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May the Act of Kindness in the world multiply each year and Santa continue to exist as a mark of it for every kid and the kid within.

Good Luck to you for your acts and may the New Year be fulfilling and peaceful !!