WHEN NOTHING GOES RIGHT GO LEFT

When the winter ushers in the bells of Christmas, he was all obsessed with, his most loved endeavour, making a Christmas crib. The childhood memories are like a golden bough which sheds golden leaves on us when we shake it occasionally. The hero here is my dearest friend. The task was not that easy. It should be grand and realistic as he had to compete in the crib making competition. Preparations start from a month before. He was after arranging things for it. The first thing to do was to sow some seeds in the wet soil. It would grow into a lovely green field after two or three weeks. Then he would arrange some hay to build the manger, then a well, a waterfall, some hills and so on. The statues of Joseph, Mary, Infant Jesus, three kings, shepherds, sheep, and a little angel to be hung on the top of the roof, all would be kept later. A real Bethlehem was recreated.

The most difficult task was to get things from his mother’s possession. And the request for a black saree (the traditional dress of women in India) to make the cave would end up in a big fight. Because after the Christmas everything would be abandoned there, as if it should be maintained till the next Christmas. And it would be the mother’s duty to clean up the whole place.

It was the Christmas Eve. Our hero was doing some finishing touch. He laid some hay inside the manger to make a bed for Infant Jesus. The last thing to do was to light a small bulb inside the manger. Then all the characters would appear as if they had life.  Our hero’s face too was lit with the joy of creation. Then he took a turn to see the cribs in the neighbouring houses and quickly returned to have a look at his masterpiece. Good gracious! To his great shock he found that something had shook his crib. Everything was toppled. He went near the crib and got an Easter egg from the manger. A hen had chosen the manger to give birth to its little one. He hushed the hen away. We can’t blame the hen either. It found the warmth of the hay and the heat of the bulb very cosy and comfortable. His eyes welled up. He stood still as a rock. Many questions came to his mind. Where did the hen come from?  Did the egg come first or the hen?  That Christmas he had to satisfy himself with a consolation prize.

Next year he made a crib taking more care, wisely avoiding the hay and made the manger with small sticks. But a big coconut leaf from the neighbour’s coconut tree fell on it. And one side of the crib was gone. Unfortunately, he had made his crib right under the coconut tree. The judges gave him another consolation prize considering the efforts taken. And for the next Christmas he shifted the crib to the porch. That was the wisest of all his decisions. He made a landscape with different pulses, mustard seeds and many other things. Oh! Lovely!  That was the best of all his creations. But some naughty ants came and raided his landscape. And when the judges came, it looked exactly like an artwork of collage. That year too, he received a consolation prize. Years passed contented with consolation prizes. This year too our hero is preparing for his Christmas vacation. He is a father now with his two dear little ones. Let’s see what is awaiting him this Christmas. Beware! His little ones are naughtier than anybody. Things are still up in the air. But our hero will be there with bells on. When nothing goes right, go left!