Christmas Or Halloween

Life had become a monotony, a total drag. Just routine and managing the chores. More than seven months and no vacation. Only work and work was taking its toll on our body and mind. It was the same for all of us - my family of four. My wife Sobha, college pass out daughter Dalia and college student son Bob, all were suffering from the same monotony. Everyone was looking for an excuse to break free and have a short holiday. 

When we decided to go outstation for a few days for a change, my sister Jhuma and her family accompanied us. Jhuma, her husband Sumit, and their college student son Ron. Jhuma and family generally decided where we should go. So this time she decided for us to go to the hills of North Bengal. She also made arrangements for our stay there at a homestay. 

It was Christmas time and it was cold in the hills. We reached the bungalow that was booked for us. It was a quaint old structure reminiscent of the last few years of the Raj. It was big and spacious with big glass windows and a large French window opening onto the lawn. The Manor was situated on a small flat piece of land at the edge of a cliff a little height above a small hamlet of ten to twelve huts. The owner had purchased it from an English man just after the freedom when he relocated to his homeland in the British Isles. 

When we reached the house, the owner met us and introduced us to our lodgings which would be our home for Christmas. He lived downhill a few feet below in the little hamlet. The house was having wooden floors and there was a fireplace with logs of wood ready to be lit when needed. It was rather cold although this season there had been no snowfall. 

The two families of ours made themselves acquainted and comfortable with the facilities provided to us. There was a refrigerator and it was stacked with provisions for a couple of days being the time of our stay. Electricity connections had been there only since the last decade and there was a hot water geyser in the bathroom. Water supply was limited to a few hours in the morning and in the evening. 

For entertainment there was no television and neither there was the Internet. The mobile connection was very weak. But we were not complaining because just for a couple of days we could easily do without it. In fact, we thought it to be a boon. As we wanted to break the monotonous routine and the humdrum of our daily city life. We would have a wonderful time we all cried in unison. 

As the sunset and the darkness engulfed our cottage we started the fire in the fireplace. In a little while, the living room became snug and warm and comfortable. We had an early dinner as we were hungry and tired. Then we all sat by the fireplace and started to chat. The ladies were busy in the preparation of the Christmas cake which we would cut at around midnight to welcome the Christmas day. 

We could see from the glass windows that it had started to snow outside, this season's first snowfall. We sat close to each other to keep ourselves warm from each other's body heat and from the heat of the fireplace. We were delighted as we were going to have a white Christmas. The ladies soon joined after the cake was ready. 

Slowly the snowflakes became more intense and we could hear the increase of the wind speed. All our doors and windows were securely locked from inside. But due to the rise in wind speed, the glass windows were chattering and the wooden doors banging in their frame. 

Then as the fire in the fireplace was slowly dying down we decided to retire for the day. Ours was one big bedroom with six cots close to each other. We all made ourselves comfortable inside the heavy blankets and began our wait till midnight for Christmas to set in and for us to cut the cake. 

Outside the wind speed was steadily rising and we could hear the wind howling. The snowfall was gradually increasing till it turned into a blizzard. Our lights were already off but we could make out the sudden tripping sound of the refrigerator and the electricity connection got snapped due to the inclement weather. 

Although the electricity connections had gone out we were not bothered because we knew we wouldn't need it at night. But as midnight was approaching the weather was turning bad to worse. 

A little while from now both the women Jhuma and Sobha gave a huge shriek. Their bed was near one window. Shobha had panic marked on her face and Jhuma had become speechless. From the intermittent lightning outside and the flash of light, we could make from their faces. They had seen something which had been the cause of their terror. Shobha shouted pointing towards one window near their bed. '' Look at that object glaring at us from the window, '' she shouted. '' Do not panic and be calm, '' Sumit, my brother in law tried to calm their edgy nerves without registering the object in the window. 

The object looked like a Halloween in the dark night intermittently glaring and then engulfed in its own dark silhouette under the influence of the lightning outside. My son Bob lit up his big torch and exclaimed wildly with excitement, '' It's a tiger, a white one ''. We all froze in fear. We had come to celebrate Christmas or was it Halloween that was intriguing me. 

That object if it was a tiger was banging at one window glass pane and then moving on and banging on the wooden door of the French window. It was trying vehemently to get in. My daughter Dalia could not keep the excitement and started sobbing loudly. '' Don't worry Didi nothing will happen to us, '' her cousin Ron consoled her. 

But as time passed the wind outside had taken on gale-force qualities and the snow was falling heavily. The tiger was trying it's ever best to break open one of the windows and doors and try to get in. How long this continued we couldn't tell us we were too scared for any action. Our Christmas vacay had turned into a nightmare of sorts. 

We all must have dozed off because no one was stirring and I also had become unaware of any activity. I was woken up by my sister Jhuma who shook me up saying, '' Dada get up and see outside. What a beautiful day it is ''. 

In a little while, we all got out of bed and dressed up in heavy woolens as it was biting cold. Then I opened the French window and we all walked out. 

Outside it was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was free of any clouds and was true blue. The ground all around was covered in a thick covering of snow. The leaves of the trees were also snow-covered. 

'' Look there, see what we have here, '' Dalia shouted in excitement. Under a tree, we found a small crucifix like a wooden Cross protruding out from the snow-covered ground. Beside it was sitting majestically a white cat. But strangely it had stripes all over its body like a tiger. Had the tiger of last night shrunk to become a cat? 

 We couldn't solve the mystery of the white tiger of last night and the white cat of this morning by putting this white striped cat in its place. 

It was a definite white Christmas for us but we couldn't miss the Halloween moment of the previous night.