Life in Chennai #7: Merry Christmas Redux!

Merry Christmas everyone!

OK, I know, this is kind of out of season, but I can’t help sharing my giddiness. I’m excited because I apparently have an actual, real Christmas present to open when I get home tonight! It is like Christmas all over again...Actually, it is more like Christmas proper since I kinda skipped it the first time.

Yes, my Mom’s Christmas care package finally arrived today. Completely unexpected. It is March 21 today. She posted it November 27. That’s 4 months after she mailed it and 3 months late for Christmas but hey, just in time for Spring! Call it a Solstice present.

I suppose the “better late than never” theory applies here, but I would kill to know where has it possibly been in those missing months? Did it travel the world? Did the Customs people open and eat the toffee my mom apparently included (perhaps not the best idea on that one Mom and definitely not edible now...) and then forgot it behind the couch? Did my mailperson just keep forgetting to grab it, saying, “I’ll delivery that heavy one tomorrow”? I long to know. Just a couple weeks ago I had told my mom, “Sorry, but no way is this coming at this point. By now, it must be lost, destroyed, or waylaid to some dark corner.” But turns out I gave up too soon (my threshold for hope was 2 months extra). From whatever corner, warehouse or circuitous route, it came.

Funny enough another couple weeks and she could have hand-delivered it to me herself (my mom and sister are coming to visit in April, YEAH!). Perhaps that is the cosmic reason for its now arrival.

Ah, but situations like this are among what I count as the joy that comes with India. Never ceases to amaze, but never really surprises in its wonderful consistent inconsistency.

So, Merry Christmas again! I just had to share that kid-in-a-Pure-Ghee-Sweets-Shop feeling! Might just have to skip out a little early from work, you know, like getting up early Christmas morn (minus the frosted windows)! :-)