It is Christmas and we ( Chalk and Cheese )are traveling . Not the visa , passport type travel, this one is a simple two hour flight from home. But there is nothing simple about packing, planning and processing in the life of Chalk and Cheese . For a four day holiday I packed four suitcases. Chalk frowned and asked ” Are we planning to settle there or is it only for four days?” I smiled that mysterious smile which could have had a thousand meanings. I had plans of my own to fill Santa’s sledge.

On Christmas Eve we started our journey, Chalk and Cheese argue about everything. This time we argued about whether to pre book or not , the in the flight meal. Chalk felt it is better to pick up some food from the airport or to eat a proper dinner after landing. But I was quite determined to pre book my sandwich. There is something about those Indigo sandwiches that always makes me hungry when I am flying. And there is no worse torture than to see your co passenger chomping on her sandwich ( I was sure she had a corporate ticket, she looked super stylish and confident) while I kept staring expectantly for the cabin crew’s attention for a simple glass of water. No prizes for guessing what I finally ate on board. I am Cheese , I never go hungry.

On Christmas day morning I planned to go shopping.
I was feeling quite like the Santa myself, buying gifts for everyone. Chalk doesn’t like associating with me when I get into these zones of loving and giving. He feels “love” is the biggest gift. And Cheese feels gifting is also a way of expressing love . When I start thinking like Santa I realize that the list of people whom I love are more than I can count. What a blessing indeed. I feel blessed to have family and friends with whom I can share my life. In reality, gift is just another way to tell people , ” you were in my thoughts.”

I stopped an auto and asked the auto wala bhaiya ” Gandhi Market jaoge ? ” The auto wala bhaiya gave me a blank stare! Chalk came to rescue from the back, Chalk always does. He smiled and told the man ” Bapu Bazaar jana haye, kitna lo ge ? ” That’s us, Chalk will always say the right thing, I will always mean the right thing. Chalk will always haggle and bargain, and I will never, never, do that. Chalk will patiently walk with me from store to store and keep pretending that he doesn’t care. I will always think of everyone but myself. At some point Chalk will gently.. ‘remind me to think about me’ ! We are Chalk and Cheese , very different people, but together a merry team. I like being Santa, I love giving and receiving, I love indulging in life’s little pleasures . Chalk on the other hand has always been the stoic type, but I believe that he has been my secret Santa forever . Merry Christmas from us to you .