James' White Christmas(Celia Philips) Christmas in India is different from the White Christmas or Blue Christmas they have in Muscat (Or so thought little James). A blend of traditions in India has made it a festival not only for Christians but for people from other communities. The noises that came from their neighbour’s courtyard reminded James that he had been standing behind the window, oblivious of the existence of any living thing in the vicinity. In fact he had gone to bed half an hour ago but he couldn’t sleep. It was unbelievable that they had left Muscat for good. How could they! Tears welled up in his big eyes as he bit his quivering lower lip.

Clarita was busy writing her diary. She bent down over the book as though she would not let a fly read her precious private lines. James turned to look at his sister. Clarita showed no signs of dolefulness. How could she stay so calm! James thought. How could she not feel the chagrin after being transplanted into a whole new world where they didn’t really belong? He sighed and crept back into his bed and pulled the sheets up to his nose. It was Monday. They had arrived there a week ago. A week was quite insufficient for a seven-year-old boy to adapt to a new environment. James shut his eyes hard, trying in vain to fence out every sad thought that floated into his mind. As his tears soaked his bed sheet the sounds from the neighbour’s courtyard shrank into silence.

The next day was the 20th of December. Clarita and James would celebrate Christmas in India for the first time. Dad had promised to take them to a movie that day. Clarita hopped and jumped with glee. She loved watching movies. A group of children encircled her. She was the eldest and was very popular with their little cousins who literally worshipped her. James soon came to a conclusion that the whole group was a bunch of duffers who were complaisant. They swallowed every word she spoke. He moved away from them. Fancy watching movies during Christmas time! It was nothing but a waste of time in his opinion. Reluctantly, he climbed up the back seat of his uncle’s car. They drove away slowly.

As the figures in the silver screen sprang to action, people laughed, screamed, applauded, and a few ladies wept. Everyone seemed to enjoy the movie; everybody except one person. James sighed for the umpteenth time. The sound in the cinema was deafening. He pushed his fingers into his ears in order to stop the din from entering them. Unlike little boys of his age, he hated violence and noises. He wished he were anywhere but this horrid dark tomb.

Finally the show that seemed everlasting came to an end. James sighed again, but this time it was with thankfulness. He squeezed through the crowd that was trying to exit through the tiny door which was held open by a beefy man in a guard’s uniform.

‘One by one, please,’ the man said. But nobody listened. James felt sorry for the guard who was trying to tone down the fierceness of the departing crowd.

His momentary happiness, which had brought up his spirits when the movie had come to an end, had already evaporated away and was replaced by a pain when a big lady stamped his little foot and squashed it like an insect.‘OUCH!’

He couldn’t help screaming. Tears blurred his vision for a few seconds. He turned to find Mum, when another woman pushed him aside to make her way to the exit. James' face was bubbling red when they at last reached the car.

On the way back he spoke nothing, determined to show everyone how angry he was. But nobody seemed bothered. They were discussing the movie. Clarita’s chatter infuriated him further. Can’t she keep her mouth shut for a moment? He was astonished to find that the grownups had joined the discussion as well. He had never felt so small and insignificant before. As the vague reflections of the trees sped before him James felt they had reached home.

But he soon found out that he was wrong. Uncle stopped the car in front of a tiny shop. They all got down and were ushered into it. The shop was not as small as it looked from outside. It was replete with all sorts of decorations, antiquated objects, clocks and dolls. There were a few terrifying wall hangings which consisted of heads of tigers, jackals and antelopes.

James heard his uncle introduce Dad and Mum to his friend who ran the shop. He looked at the man, who was smiling generously and nodding. The man caught his eye and nodded back kindly.
‘You can walk around and have a look at the things here,’ he said.

James was surprised to be addressed directly by a grownup as though he were an equal. Nevertheless, He suddenly felt very distinguished.

‘I like him,’ he decided. He smiled and walked slowly farther into the shop. After walking for some time, he reached a juncture from where he had to turn either left or right. Clarita ran past him, followed by their cousins. They turned left and were gone. James stood staring after them for a while as though he expected their quick return. But they didn’t come back. He lost interest. He turned right and proceeded into a room. He wasn’t surprised to find a lot of clocks inside the room. He had seen countless clocks in Muscat and there was not one that he had not touched. He was reminded of his friend’s clock which the two of them had repaired. It was a nice, dancing pendulum clock. James didn’t fail to note that there was a Christmas tree at every corner of that room. He moved on. The tick-tocks of the clocks induced a deep sense of comfort in him. He wondered whether his ears were supersensitive to sounds because he could pick up every bit of the rhythm that sounded in the room.

Walking past the gigantic grandfather clocks, most of which were thrice or four times as tall as he was, James stopped dead in front of a wooden trunk. He stared and stared. Of course there was nothing enigmatic in an ugly old trunk. It was a little girl who drew his attention. She stood on the lid of the closed trunk. She held a piece of off-white cloth in her left hand and a glass of dirty water in the other. James became curious to know what she was up to. He watched her as she stood on her toes attempting to reach an ancient chandelier that hung directly above her. James realized that she was trying to clean the dusty chandelier. Her cute little face strained as she rose on her toes trying to balance. The empty trunk creaked. Though it looked strong, James had a feeling that the little girl might slip and fall, so he thought he should warn her. He waved at her. The little girl looked at him.

‘Be careful!’ he called out pointing at the trunk. ‘You might fall down. The trunk isn’t safe. Why don’t you use a chair instead?’

The moment he finished speaking he wished he hadn’t done so. Why did he have to say anything at all? The girl now stared down at him, a frown forming in her brow. That lasted for one whole minute before she turned and went back to her cleaning work.

The previously evaporated anger condensed and precipitated back into him. He felt insulted. She could have at least acknowledged his concern. He thought: People in India have no manners. Snorting loudly he left the room. After a little shopping, they drove back home.

At night James sprawled in his bed and returned to his Muscat memories. He recollected his lovely schooldays. He thought about his pals who had wept uncontrollably when he'd bidden them farewell. He dug out every single detail of the world where he truly belonged. He craved to be near John, Akash and Harsh. He laughed softly when he remembered how John had planted a foot on big Ben’s back when the latter had called him names when he'd failed the class test. Tears flowed down his cheeks when he thought of Anne and her little sister who had brought him apple pies when he was in the hospital with a broken arm. He missed Anne, Joel and Sunitha. Their voices droned in his ears for quite some time. Would he ever see them again?

Did it usually drizzle in India during Christmas season? He didn't know. It didn’t in Oman. Winters were very cold there but it never rained. Yet why is it raining here? It’s so illogical. ‘Must ask Mummy,’ thought James. He opened his eyes and shuddered to find Clarita’s bespectacled nose above him.

‘Wake up!’ she shouted. ‘It’s almost 10 o clock.’

She had a mug of water in her hand. It soon became obvious that it was his sister who was sprinkling water on his face and that there was no rain. It was a perfect sunny morning. Irritated, James screamed and chased Clarita out of the room. He had been in the middle of a wonderful dream when Clarita interrupted. He forgot it. He tried hard to recollect it. He felt so sorry that he thought of going back to sleep so that he may dream the same one again. But then he decided against it.

He looked out of the window to find Dad, Mum and Uncle busy fixing the crib in front of the house. Clarita had joined them. James went downstairs where his aunt served him breakfast. He ate alone. He had been the last person to wake up and ended up the last person to eat. Later he picked his glass of milk and sat down on the verandah of the house. He decided not to share the joy of Christmas with anyone. So he watched his cousins play with the kids next door. He watched Clarita mingle with them easily. The place was filled with laughter. Everybody seemed excited.

‘Beep beep!’
James turned his head in the direction of the horn. He wondered who would call in on a day like this. He soon found out the source of the sound. A car stopped outside the gate. Uncle ran towards it and opened the gate wide, allowing the car to enter. When it stopped, Uncle welcomed a man out of the car. The man was short, stout and bald. He was very buoyant in spirits.

‘Wait a minute!’ thought James, ‘I know this man.’

The man spoke animatedly to Uncle and the others. James stared at his round, bald head. Then suddenly, the way he had done inside the shop, the old man spoke directly to James.

‘This is Mina, my granddaughter.’

Beside him stood the pretty little girl James had met the previous day. She smiled at him but he could see none of her teeth. James wondered whether she had teeth at all! A heavy pat on his back brought him back to reality. James blinked and blushed.

‘Say hello to Mina,’ said Dad.

Mina was all smiles. James took her outstretched arm, shook it once and dropped it. He did not return her smile. He was reminded of the ignominy to which he had been subjected by this girl. Didn’t she remember it? He wondered. Well, he was going to pay her back today. And he walked into the house.

Throughout the day James played with his cousins. Their games bored him yet he had to join them now. It was a part of his plan to pay that awful girl back, who sat beside her grandfather. James roared and yelled to prove his presence. Through the corners of his eyes, he spied Mina staring at them. She looked as though she wished to join them. But nobody seemed to notice her, not even generous Clarita. James’ heart melted a little. He had experienced alienation before and he could reckon how Mina must be feeling. But he couldn’t injure his pride so he avoided looking at her.

Mina and her grandfather left in the evening. James heard Uncle inviting them for Christmas. So another meeting with her was inevitable.

It was when the dinner was served that certain revelations were encountered. The children were in front of the T.V. Watching a movie while eating was one thing that they couldn’t live without. However, James did not approve of this. But he had to join them. He stuffed his mouth with food while he strained to listen to what the grownups were discussing. What he heard terrified his tender heart. It was about Mina. She was as deaf as a doll! She was completely oblivious to the minutest sounds that could be perceived by humankind.

‘She is the only daughter of a venerable businessman,’ James heard his aunt say. ‘A little carelessness consumed him for good. He died of electric shock while fixing an electric device.’

‘They took his wife to a hospital. She lost her sanity. Never recovered,’ added Uncle.
James wept in his bed. He bit his pillow and dug his nails in his bed sheet. He tried to smother the sobs that escaped him. He had never known tragedy before. The one that he heard now was too heavy a burden to bear. He couldn’t imagine Mina’s pain or the kind of life that she led. What would it feel like to live with the knowledge that she would never see her parents again? James was scared when he heard that Mina’s mother had spent a few years in the dark corners of the asylum until she died.
‘I certainly don’t understand these grownups,’ thought James. ‘How could they talk of such horrible things as though they were discussing a football match?’
The lull in the room was frightening. He hardly knew when he fell asleep.

Then Christmas Eve arrived. People who were invited for the Christmas party started showing up. There was a big white cake on the table. The yellow and green icing on it gave it the look of an enchanted forest! James opened his eyes wide, taking the beauty in. He was pleased to find Mummy in a blue sari and Aunty in pink. Clarita looked pretty in her new dress and so did the cousins. He watched the families who had arrived early. He counted the number of tiny tots who stared longingly at the cake. Outside it was getting dark. But the house was all lit up and the decorations shone brightly. The angel on the top of the Christmas tree smiled down upon them as though blessing every person in the house. James searched among the guests for someone he truly wished to meet.

Just then a car drove into the compound. James picked up the sound and raced toward the front door. He watched an old man open the door of his car and walk out. A little girl followed.

Mina looked beautiful in her red silk skirt and blouse. Her hair was neatly tied up into two plaits. James face lit up, though he hesitated to welcome them inside. The old man and his granddaughter proceeded into the house as James watched.

The party had begun. There was music and the other children danced around the hall with glee. Mina sat on her grandfather’s lap. Her grandfather was soon engrossed in conversation with the other men in the room. She stared at everybody, smiling occasionally. James was sad. She couldn’t hear the wonderful music and she had no idea how to dance. He stared at her for a few minutes.

Picking up courage, James walked towards her. He pulled her out of the old man’s lap and said, ‘I will teach you how to dance.’ Then he turned around to look at his father, who grinned back.

He took Mina to the children near the Christmas tree and danced to the music. Mina laughed and followed his movements. She seemed to pick up every step gracefully. Mummy and Aunty clapped their hands in sheer joy. The others joined them. Mina looked like a scarlet rose in full bloom. The two children became the idols of the limelight. The dance ended with a thunder of applause. Mina ran up and down with elation. Everybody laughed. Then she ran back to her grandfather who picked her up and kissed her plump cheeks.

James wondered whether she had heard a thing. He knew she had not and fancied that she did. The cake was cut and was soon finished. The gifts were given away. The clock struck one when everybody left for their homes, wishing Merry Christmas. Mina and her grandfather drove away in their car.

The house fell silent. James lay with his hands beneath his head. He thought of all that had happened today. The silence that prevailed in the room was not scary tonight. For James it was serendipity when he realized that happiness is the only thing that grows continually when given out. By giving happiness to others, he could bring happiness to himself. And this happiness, he was certain, would never fade.

He sat straight in his bed and switched on his table lamp. He pulled out a book from underneath his pillow. It was his abandoned diary. He opened it. James turned to find his sister fast asleep in her bed. Noiselessly he pulled out the pen that Clarita had placed between the pages of her diary. He mused for a moment and then wrote:

‘My White Christmas…….’

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