On a Christmas Eve by Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (books suggested by bill gates TXT) 📕

Protected by her rain coat along with her umbrella, Catherine started from her office around 6 p.m. in the rain. She has to wait for a long time at the bus stop for her bus. All buses came crowded as most of the people who used two wheelers preferred to take the bus. In a city like Chennai, it is always a night mare to travel in the traffic during rainy days.

Peak hours aggravated the traffic snarl and people who are squeezed inside the bus also found their life a hell. Catherine hated to travel in the bus on these days. She would prefer to walk on the flooded roads than travel inside a bus loaded with passengers of all kinds.

Life for a girl like her will become more miserable inside a crowded bus like that. Shameless men who traveled in the bus took this as an opportunity to brush against women and girls who traveled in the bus.

After a travel in a crowded bus, she will rush to have her evening bath even if the water is freezing cold. With a shiver, she will pour the cold water on her and help herself to get rid of the sense of embarrassment and awkwardness she has experienced in the bus.

Every year in her office, they played the usual game, ‘Chris Ma’ and ‘Chris Child’ to enjoy the bliss of coming Christmas and New Year. For more than fifteen days they played the game by exchanging small gifts with their unknown ‘Chris Ma’ or ‘Chris Child.’ Finally on the Christmas Eve, the real name of the person who played as ‘Chris Ma’ and ‘Chris Child’ will be revealed.

Now at this time, they will be exchanging expensive gifts and enjoyed the Christmas Eve with a grand party at the terrace above their office. Already they have started this game in her office, and she started to think about the best gift, she can give for her ‘Chris Child’ as a ‘Chris Ma’. At the same time, she is also a ‘Chris Child’ for a ‘Chris Ma.’ This made her to wait and explore who that person will be and what gift she will get from her ‘Chris Ma.’

Along with this game in the office, Catherine wanted to play this game in a different way outside the office. Her eyes started to watch around her whenever she traveled or walked from her bus stop to the office or back from office to home.

So, on that day, Catherine decided to walk from her office to the nearby bus stop. As she knew that all buses that stopped in front of her office will be over crowded, and she will not even have some place to stand even on the steps of the bus. After walking ten minutes from her office, she has to walk across an area where low income people lived.

In the middle of the city, in the middle of bustling traffic and hectic activity, there stood that low lying area flooded with rain water. The people who lived there earned their daily wages, and even if it rained one day, the entire family has to go hungry without any food. Catherine has seen little kids playing on the pedestrian platforms. Even toddlers played on those pedestrian platforms as heavy speeding vehicles plied on that busy road.

As it was raining for the past four days, no one played on the pedestrian platform. No street vendors, no flower vendors and no street urchins played on the empty pedestrian platform. As Catherine wore her rain coat, she did not carry her umbrella. Warmly tucked inside the expensive rain coat, she walked slowly on the platform watching for people, to whom she can present her Christmas gift.

Catherine could not make a choice. She found every one whom she met had more than one need. She could not decide which will be their desperate need, because, these people will not tell her about her needs even if she volunteered to ask them.

These people though struggled daily for their life; they did not want anyone to ask about their personal needs. They will only show her their frowned faces and tell her to mind her business. As Catherine met with such a type of reaction for more than two times in the past, she hesitated to go to them and ask them.

Yet, Catherine did not want to brush aside her idea to gift some one out side her office. Every day when she walked toward her office, she came across two women sitting and mending shoes and slippers. One elderly woman and a young woman along with two young boys sat there on the other side of the pedestrian platform.

The two young boys aged ten and six played on the pedestrian platform with worn out toys and make shift wheels made from the bicycle tyres. Though many schools are there that provided free education to poor children, the young boys spent their whole day playing on the pedestrian platform. Sometimes, these boys learned from their mother and grand-mother how to mend shoes and slippers.

Catherine decided to get something as gifts for these little boys. After identifying the persons, Catherine could not decide what to buy for them. She can buy some new dresses for them. That will not be a problem. But, she wanted to get something that will prove as a turning point in their life.

After much pondering over what gift to get, she decided to buy a stone slate to write and practice, a book that introduced both English and Tamil alphabets with pictures, a box of slate pencils and a school bag to have all these things.

Catherine’s office closed for Christmas holidays. So, on the day of Christmas Eve, she decided to present the gifts to those little boys. When she called the little boys and gave them the school bags, they looked at their mother for consent.

Looking at the school bag, the mother’s face beamed with a smile. She nodded her consent to the kids. The two boys thanked her in a chorus. Both of them took the slates from the bag and started to scribble on it. Catherine got the slate from the younger one and taught him how to hold the slate pencil and write on the slate.

When she drew a cross and wrote ‘Happy Christmas.’ Even though, the kids did not know how to read or write, in chorus told her ‘Happy Christmas.’ Catherine felt a shiver of joy go through her spine and make her feel that is the perfect ‘Blessed Christmas Eve.’

Text: Kalai Selvi Arivalagan
Publication Date: 01-17-2010

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
Blessings come on its own.