Christmas Gifts

Morning 9.00 AM is the most awaited time by Prem. It means the time when the post man rings the bell and it's the time when his neighbor, sweet sixteen Dhanya makes her morning appearance. That day, the postman had a surprise letter for him - a magical appointment letter. Seemed to have come from some far off fairy world. It was An assignment for Prem from Santa Claus himself- To find some kids eligible for his Christmas gifts. The appointment letter also offered free transportation and the cost of one assistant to be reimbursed..... all he had to do was speak out the assistant's name and the sledge, transporation vehicle will carry both of them together.

Just then Dhanya opened the gate and made her way towards Prem. He was surprised by her visit, 'Dhanya !'. Not long had he uttered her name, out of the blue, Santa's sledge appeared and whisked both of them away. Dhanya was terrified and shouted at her lung top, "Help! Help!" First Dhanya thought that she was being kidnapped like Ravana kidnapped Sita in his Pushpak Viman. But Prem was also confused and to Dhanya looked more like Hanuman than Ravan. He showed the letter and both of them quickly got grasp of the situation. Dhanya was his assistant for the assignment as he had inadvertently taken her name.

Now the destination. It was on auto pilot and all one was to do was to enter the Latitude and longitude. Prem wanted to go to some african country and Dhanya entered some latitude and longitude and some directions north or east. And Vroom! They landed in small african country of Eritrea. In front of them was a undernourished young baby of barely five whose bones were clearly visible. Prem was really disturbed and wanted to give the kid something. But he had come bare handed (He cursed himself for not following his mother's advice, 'When you visit the place where there is God or children, don't go empty handed'). But then the kid suddenly collapsed and..... No No..... the baby didn't die.... just collapsed. Prem was really disturbed. But not Dhanya. She was making the assessment like a medical student does.... "Suffering the effects of hunger and malnutrition ...If he is not fed on a consistent basis, he will grow up with lots of impairments." She definitely showed some signs of becoming a doctor in the future.

Prem couldn't stay there for long. He wanted to visit some terror-affected or war-torn region and Dhanya exactly knew where to take him. They were in the war torn area of Palestine. A beautiful girl of thirteen year old was there in front of them. Prem remembered how his mother always saw goddesses in young girls and worshiped them. But this girl seemed to be a shorter version of the ferocious Kali. With a AK-47 in hand, she threatened Prem and Dhanya and warned them not to keep a step ahead. Prem and Dhanya did make a move but not ahead but backward towards the sledge. But as they moved backwards, the studious Dhanya studied the surrounding, "Pieces of sharpnel... place seemed to be recently hit by a missile... a car completely destroyed.... possibly by a air strike... ."Hmm. Dhanya acted more like a defense correspondent. Prem didn't want to die at the hands of a girl... so they vanished from the place just like that.

Prem blurted out, "I had enough. Let's go to the silicon city, Bangalore." and there was this kid of seven years playing with his toys. What a spacious house... the disney channel was airing the kid's favorite cartoon show.... the toys were all over the place.... a maid was there to attend to the kid's requirements. The house was on the 15th floor of the posh apartment complex. Though he played with all kinds of stuffed animals and robots on a daily basis , it was only on weekends that he really gets a chance to play with his parents. The sun was setting and there was no signs of the kid's parents returning. But Dhanya had to return - otherwise her parents would come gunning for Prem.

When Santa Claus appeared, Prem and Dhanya had their report ready. The report was barely three lines and Dhanya read the report on behalf of Prem and she read it like she was reading a chapter from her English text book, "First, for the Kids of famine-stuck areas and places affected by furious acts of nature, we would like to gift them with food and shelter. Secondly for the kids in the terror-affected or war-torn regions like Palestine, we would want you to gift them with Peace and Calmness. And finally for kids with over-ambitious parents, gift them with parental love and care. There are still many..."

The reading stopped. Prem thought what had happened. Why did Dhanya stop? Then he realised that Dhanya had finished her revision for the day, drank milk, switched off the light and had gone to bed(in her room and in her house). It was time Prem stopped dreaming, switch off the lights and go to sleep.

'But Santa Claus! Please gift these deprived Kids', was his prayer before he retired for the day