Christmas celebrations at Amethyst

On a cool blue evening, as the moon watched from the sky, Deepak got into character on the amphi-theatre. As Deepak assumed his role and let the limelight sink in, the light to the amphitheater went off. Solution was immediate. The light that faces the pool shall face the amphitheatre now.The audience arrived in sweaters and numbers and early.6:30 was the announced time and people had already arrived by 6:15.Deepak addressed the house - Friends,Neighbors,Countrymen.Light had been taken care of.Now,Sound cried for attention.The mike would not behave.Did Deepak shy away from the theater and say - 'Sorry folks, there is some problem with the mike'.No he did not. He bypassed technology and addressed his friends loudly so that everyone could hear him and be part of this evening.
All this while, Santa Claus was sitting with his left ankle on the right knee forming the digit 4 in the reading room reading 'Rajastan Patrika' refining his perceptions on the way things are and the way things should be.For Rakesh, the path was clear. He was to leave the room , take a right and walk down into the crowd when the bells start ringing jingle jingle.
Shiju and Deva fumbled around with the amplifier and got the first dance song playing. Athulya and her friends Krithika and Prajakta added more meaning to the song , the amphitheater and the evening as they effortlessly and gracefully danced themselves into the song.Now, it was turn for the smart and dressed up boys to take the stage. First , they sang praise to the Lord followed by an energetic rendering of the jingle-bells.Now,it was the turn of the ladies of Amethyst to sing a christmas song. It was easy to make out how much practice had gone into the skit that came next , thanks to the able guidance of Sangeetha and Priya. Reminds one of the old school days which is where most of us would have last played a skit.
The stage itself was set up beautifully under the art direction of Clayton and Sanju who setup a beautiful crib. Christmas tree was also setup. Bobby was the in-charge for the illumination.
As the feel good increased in the crowd, Deepak announced the chief guest of the evening - none other than the Santa Claus himself. A group of reindeers were waiting near the beautiful green , dressed in blue and white eagerly looking forward to welcome Santa and waiting with apprehension and a little impatience for the moment to come.Time would not stop and the jingle bells CD would not play either. Santa decided to wave his hands to the crowd and walk himself down, albeit without having the jingle bells CD initiate his arrival. As the crowd of children brought in Santa uncle with love and hope , as the dressed-up club house watched the events unfold, jingle bells started ringing. Crowd waved and greeted Santa shouting.Festivity filled the air.Everyone was standing up now and the line between the stage and gallery was quickly fading . The entire amphitheater was now a stage to exhilaration as everyone's beloved Santa Uncle opened his trolley bag of chocolates. As snow fell , as crowds cheered, as children hovered around Santa, as everyone shouted, as Santa set the dance floor on fire , the stars smiled from the heavens.
Eyes had feasted the sights, ears had feasted the sounds, now it was time to feast the taste buds. Clayton served the highlight of the evening - homemade wine , Abhilash was distributing plum cake , Shiju and Girijesh distributed fruity and Sachin the eggless cake too. Meanwhile , kids were excitedly waiting for an opportunity to get themselves photographed with Santa. Hari , with tripod and all looked good and ready to give the press a run for the money. The ice had melted big time and one could see the same hand lead the wine to the mouth time and again.
I am not very sure whether there was as much excitement when India won the world cup.
Folks ,it is time for all of you to go back to your homes and wait for Santa.
So far, you just needed a stationary camera watching the amphitheater to feel the joy of the XMas celebrations at Amethyst. To take further pleasure , you would need to follow Santa as he pays personal visits to each of the Amethyst homes. Don't worry - you would also be accompanied with a nice carol group(Boby,Abhilash,Sanju,Preethy,Siji)that would make any Amethystian proud. A reindeer named Pranav had in the meanwhile turned himself too into a Santa , a Santa to match the eye level of the children at Amethyst.
Santa presented glittering wrapped gifts to children whose parents had paid Santa in advance. Nothing as beautiful as a beaming smile on a child who has just got a gift from a fable.As the night turned darker , as the sleep became heavier , children cried when Santa's calling bell cracked their sleep. Santa magic and chocolates quickly changed their mood and the children were smiling now, happy to receive Santa uncle.Santa also had a great time receiving chocolates/juice offered from various homes!Prasanth had brought chocolates from his recent trip to Germany which he distributed to the Santa group.
As the procession was progressing, Lakshmi,Siji,Susmitha,Shilpa and Bindu were sorting gifts for the yet-to-visit homes.Venu/Pratap was all the while with the group taking in pictures.As excited were the children at the chocolates , so excited were the parents for the moments. As parents collected memories, the efforts and the initiative of the organizers of the event , the hours of practice of the coral group, the dance group had paid off and as per financial analysts, the value of Amethyst property shot up by 3 percent during the event.
As we struggle with settling down in Atlanta from the last two months, Amethyst is the one thing that keeps calling us back. All the more so with grand events like this one!