In search of the elusive Santa!

In my childhood, the only place where you were assured a tête-à-tête with Santa was the “largest departmental store” in Mumbai – Akbarallys. The cheerful Santa would be perched on his “throne” right at the entrance. The kids would make a beeline to sit on his lap… ask for the “mechano set” or “bicycle” which he would “make a note of”… try to check if his beard was real or fake… take a Ravalgaon Toffee from him and walk off 3 inches above the ground. For me, the other favourites on the Christmas day - a walk in the Horniman circle gardens and a peak into the Laffans store to admire the waterfall, caged birds and a stuffed tiger. The day would end in a sumptuous dinner at Kandeel or Khyber… those were the days!

Wanted to recreate the same Xmas magic for my 3 year old daughter. Wasn’t sure if the Santa still sits at Akbarallys… So we decided to go to its modern day equivalent – INORBIT! We were sure that a few Santas would be floating around in the mall. The atrium had a show where kids and parents were dancing away to the latest Bollywood Punjabi number. 3M did not want to "waste time on such silly things” as Santa on Xmas was far more important. So 3M and MMW lugged their MMB (MarathMoli Babe) from Hypercity to Shopper’s Stop and from Spencer’s to Lifestyle… but Santa was nowhere to be seen! When we asked around…

“He was just here…”
“Huh?”
“Do check at the kids’ outlets on the first floor…”
“Must have gone for a peeeee break… ;-)”

Finally, the MM family decided to have some grub at the food court… lo and behold… there he was… at the entrance of the “peri peri” restaurant… but MMB was not amused… “He is not fat”… “He is wearing a mask”… “There are no gifts with him”… “He is not a real Santa”… no “shake hands”... no "photo-ops"!

Finally MMB found solace in the Punjabi Music in the atrium… Santa nahi to Santa-Banta music hi sahi!