Chapter 1 – The one with leave plan approval

When it comes to celebrating Christmas and New Year Eve, as we all wish, I too wanted them to be unique. But this time, I wanted to celebrate them in a way like I never did before. At first, I wished there would be just a few of my close friends and me sitting beside each other, talking gibberish and titillating each other non-stop. But then, how it would be different than the way I used to enjoy them before. Even today, over the weekends, I could do that. This year I was truly looking for something different.

For initial few days, I brooded over an alternative, the one that could be the perfect fit for these two days. Finally, thanks to my much efforts, it ringed a bell to me. 

I asked myself, "what's the harm in spending these two days with my family this time?" Yes, it was a rhetorical question as the answer was too obvious (at least to me). But still, I ponder over it again for a while just in case if I could stumble upon any better options. But fortunate or unfortunate as it seemed, I didn't find any other optimal choice than this. At last, I ascertained to celebrate these two days with my family. Also, to let its hang-over last for a long time, I decided to celebrate them at one go without having any halts of weekdays coming in between.

With that thought, after 15th December, each morning I used to hold myself tight to dare to ask my Boss about my leave plan for the period 25th Dec to 3rd Jan. But maybe, out of fear that he might reject it, I procrastinated conveying the same to him.

Finally, without being worried about the repercussion, on 22nd Dec (three days before the Christmas Eve), just before winding myself up for the day, with a slight hesitancy in my mind, I pinged him over his Skype messenger ID.

Once we finished with ‘Hi’, ’Hello’ sort of formalities, I told him about my leave plan.

He paused for a while. ‘<My boss> typing’ started to come and go now and then over my messenger ID. I could sense his pondering before approving my leave plan.

Ah… Finally, he replied. But, to my surprise, he just replied “Ok”. 

It was a sweet shocker to me as I didn't expect him to approve my leave plan at such a last moment. Maybe, the shut-down period had made it easy for him to reply in just a single word. But, that was the response I was looking for to let me go berserk and be on cloud nine for the rest of the day.

Now it was just a waiting game I had to play over until 24th Dec evening. It was a matter of just two days, but still a thought of picturing myself enjoying these two days with my family made me reckless and looked rusty while working in the office. I could see my anxiety weighing on my conscience and not letting me work in the best way I could. Also, to add insult to injury, time was also running too slowly.

Finally, the time, 24th Dec evening, arrived. That day, I left office very early, went to my flat, carried my already packed two bags over my shoulder and ran like hell to the station to catch my Volvo AC Sleeper bus from Chinchwad - Pune.

Ah… After 15 minutes or so, my bus came.

Once I got on the bus, I exhaled my long and well-suppressed sigh of relief.


Chapter 2 –The one with family rendezvous

It was a day of Christmas Eve. I just got off my allocated bed on the bus. My watch was showing 7:15 AM at that time. The dizziness was still there. And yet, after removing the eye gunk present under my eyes, I got ready as the next stop was just around the corner where I had to get down.

I took Auto once I got off the bus and asked Auto-driver to drop me at - 19, Bhagwan Nagar. It was a ride of just 5-6 minutes, yet I felt so good about it, just because it was my city, per se, the place where I truly belong from.

And there they were. I saw my whole family standing outside of the compound gate as if I came to Nagpur after a decade or so. With bags over my shoulder, I quickly got off the Riksha, just to bow down to touch the heaven's feet of my mother and father and cuddle my beloved sisters. That was the very moment when I saw a shade of cry in their eyes and tears rolling down their cheeks. However, while bending down, thanks to the bus journey, I could sense the leftovers of dizziness and back pain. And to remove all their vestiges, first, I had to get inside my sweet home and start unpacking my all bags and then take a warm bath under the shower.

And, as a matter of fact, when I took the shower, I felt myself again. Now, there wasn't any damn sign of wooziness I could feel within. Not sure whether the bath that I took did the magic for me or it was just my mindset of being at home made me feel rejuvenated.

I sat on a sofa, picked the remote control to put on TV. But, no longer did I switch it on, my mother came from the kitchen with plates of many my favorite dishes. And when I saw one of them having Poha, I couldn't control myself. I threw the TV remote away and ran towards it. You can't imagine how I invaded over the plate. After seeing the childlike behavior of her 27 years old well-matured son, mother smiled. She was surprised and yet happy to see her skinny son finishing her mouth-watering dishes prepared with tons of affection in so haste.

Now, it was a time to have family moments; moments that are so difficult to come by these days, moments that involve you, your family and no one else. And, much to my delight, this time, it seemed as if these moments came to stay with me for a sufficient number of days. And you bet why I was so happy about it.

Chapter 3 –The one with clash of beliefs 

            It was 1 AM in the morning and still the prattle that started as part of family moments didn’t seem to end quickly. Thanks to my little sister, she brought an idea of having a trip to somewhere where it would be just our family. Initially, the idea seemed to bring us closer, but I didn't know that later it would elicit the rift between my beliefs and that of theirs.

            She said, “We all will go to Shegaon” (One of the holy places in India, as they say). And being from a religious family, each member of my family got peppy, except me.

          It wasn't the case that I didn't want to go with them. To be precise, the problem lay with the location, not with its members; the problem lay in belief for assuming places like this excessive holy than just sacred. Still, not to let their happiness subdued, I agreed not to disagree with them. And at last, with everyone’s assent over the plan, we all went to bed.

            It was 2:30 AM. Everyone was in deep sleep, except me. I was still awake like an owl and quite dubious whether I had to go with them to that very place or not. If it had been a place other than this, if it had been a place for a picnic, I would have been the first person to get on board. But, for this, I wasn't getting any damn ‘yes’ signals from inside. It was just like a coerced consent pouring out of mind. And still, I had to go with them; still I have to be happy for them, just to make them happy.

            With that compelled assent, it was difficult for me to fall asleep. And yet I have to, as we all have to rush to the very place at around 4:30 AM, just a few hours later.

Chapter 4 –The one with my God and their God 

            It was 9:30 AM, the time when we all reached Shegaon. I could fathom now why they called it 'one of the holy places in India' as I could see, tens of thousands of people were stuck in the queue. And they all came just to have a mere glance of (their) God. And by the size of the queue, I was able to gauge the time it was going to take to have me a look of the same God. It would be another 3-4 hour by the time my family and I could be able to see the God.

            While wading through the queue, as foolish as it may sound, I came across a few weirdos. However, out of them, two literally stood out and it wouldn't be possible for me to control not to quote them here.

I saw a lady, 35-40 years of age probably, having a dense stratum of Vermilion hover over her forehead dressed in a scarlet sari, walking through another queue just to my left side. She was relentlessly murmuring something; but because of the stentorian caused by a throng of so many people and the constant poking and brushing, thanks to the devotees present around me, her murmuring wasn’t adding up to me as I was barely able to hear it. But still, I could see her holding her 2-3-year-old child, just above to the left side of her waist. He was leaning his head onto her shoulder. He looked exhausted. But, he wasn’t asleep either. Maybe, the damn size of the queue sucked out all the vigor that he probably had. But, the way she was holding him tight under her hug and the way she was careening herself and her child through the horde, it looked as if the lady had energy enough to let him have God's touchwood.

But, instead of all of this, she was an epitome for me. An epitome of being caring and being superstitious at the same time. I admired her intent as a devotee, but not the way she was expressing it and causing so much trouble to her already worn out child. No, I certainly don't. 

If my left side queue was all about this lady, what if I introduce to you yet another weirdo, an old guy, of roughly 60-65 years of age, carrying a plate having various dishes, accompanied by all types ingredients required for the ritual ceremony. Maybe, because of his age or plate’s weight, not sure, it seemed as if he was barely able to hold it tightly. The plate was slipping through his hand now and then, and yet every time he managed to hold it up. I was wondering why he came all over here to sweat 3-4 hours wait out. Maybe, the desire to meet his God had coerced him to do so. And much to his delight, finally his turn came.

That was the time when I could feel I was stuck up within a cluster of holy people; to my left, a lady in a scarlet sari with her small child; to my right, an old guy with a plate having plenty of dishes; and to my back, my family.

I could see the lady bending her son down to touch his forehead down onto the holy wood and pleading to the beautifully carved idol (The God as they call it) to resurrect him from all his illness. I could see the old guy giving his plate to the temple priest and asking him to give all those dishes to the God as if the idol is excited and hungry enough to take it.

I contemplated over the happening and asked myself why the lady didn't take her child to the hospital, but rather ventured to come miles away just to plea an idol to have her child recovered. I asked myself why the old man didn't give that plate having so many dishes to the people that were sitting outside of the temple, begging and dying out of hunger, as I could see the plate had enough food to satiate the hunger of at least two beggars. And there I was, muddled up between the superstition and over-sacredness of such people, yet admiring the beauty and efforts the idol carved out with. 

Once I paid my attention to this beauty, I moved aside, without demanding the idol anything, just to let my family have a look at it. But, to my dismay, they too all started pleading and asking God something.  And when I saw my mother and father asking something earnestly to the God by looking at me in between, it seemed as if that something was somehow related to me.

But, for me, that was the very moment, I could see the real God in front of me, my mother and father. However, I was astonished to see my God appealing to their God (the idol) for my greater good. The idol seemed to be the God to my family, the lady, the old man, and to all, except me. I mean, I could see the God in my father, my mother and my family but not in that idol. The whole surrounding created all sorts of doubts in my mind. However, with a same perplexed mind, I took my family safely out of the crowd, without letting them know about my bewilderment.     

Chapter 5 –The one with the essence 

            It was 7 PM when we all came back home after a strenuous journey and in between sleep. Everyone was tired, except my mother. She hurriedly went to a washroom, poured water over her legs and came barefooted to the kitchen to make tea, just to keep everyone energetic and to let the mood go on.

            She brought the teapot to the main hall where everyone was stretching their legs out; then she laid it on the table. And when saw it, I lashed onto my tea. While I was sipping my tea, mom came, sat beside me and told me, "Son, I felt good after a long time when I saw you coming with us.” That was the moment I would never forget. That was the moment which made me realize the worth of my company to them. I could see happiness in her eyes. I could feel it. What better Christmas Eve celebration one can ask for! I could feel a reflection of her happiness on my face as I too felt happy about the trip. Now, I wasn't thinking about the over-sacredness and superstition of people like the lady and the old man whom I saw in the temple. Now, I wasn't thinking only about my belief and that of theirs. I was just thinking and wishing not to let that very moment die ever.

But unfortunately, after finishing my tea, everyone started to go to bed. And I couldn’t stop them as I knew how much we all were worn out.

Within a span of 15 minutes, everyone felt asleep, except me. I was still analyzing the day and how fruitful it had been. I was turning myself from one side of my bed to the other, and that's when I saw my mom, quite asleep and yet with a smile on my her face.

I was thinking if having me with her along the trip could make her happy and bring such a lovely smile on her face, then, just like the very day, I would love to celebrate as many days as I could. Now, I was waiting so desperately for the New-Year day to come and again make all of us happy .

And that’s where the real essence lay in celebrating days like these with family; the essence of being happy in my mom’s happiness, the essence of being happy in my family’s happiness.

Yes, they have their beliefs and I have my own, and to be precise, way different than each other. And yet, I never felt bad as they never wanted to impose their beliefs on me and me too never forced them to accept mine. But still, if my adopted belief of being happy in their happiness, or me going with them somewhere, means so much to them, then I would love to feed me with their adopted beliefs throughout my life. 
    

-- THE END --