Ho Ho Ho! Actors share their Christmas wishes and memories!

MUMBAI: It’s the season to be jolly as Christmas is here! These actors tell us what they want from Santa this year!

Abhinandan Jindal: A strong lead in a TV show is what I want for Christmas this year. I am confident that if I get one chance, I will pull it off so well that I will be one of the topmost actors of the television industry, if not the best. I am not so fond of celebrating things on a large scale, and the same holds true for Christmas celebrations as well. I am very reserved and so is my family. We are happy in ourselves and don’t really meet too many guests at festivals.

Vijayendra Kumeria: I studied in a convent school (St. Xavier’s), so Christmas was celebrated at school before the Christmas holidays began. It was fun to receive gifts and have parties. Everybody used to take part in the celebrations. I still remember there used to be a classroom decoration competition between all classes and we used to have so much fun...This year, I want secret Santa to gift all of us a great Covid-19 vaccine.

Pranitaa Pandit: My fondest memory of Christmas has always been decorating our little Christmas tree. When I was child, I actually believed that Santa Clause is going to come and get us gifts, so I always used to look forward to waking up in the morning and just running to the Christmas tree to get the gift under it. That is something I can never forget. I think even today, the child in me, wishes I could do the same.

Rohit Choudhary:  During my childhood, there were no Christmas celebrations as we never had the money to celebrate this festival. But yes, when we became parents, we became Santas for our kids and kept gifts beside their beds. When they grew up, they got to know that papa is the only Santa. I want one thing only which is that the whole world should be Covid-free so that our industry can grow.

Delnaaz Irani: There are lot of childhood memories that I have of Christmas. One memory I clearly remember is that I was very fond of dolls and one of my mom’s friends was settled in Germany and she would keep coming and going. I had seen one doll in their house which was their daughter’s doll and I liked it so much that I kept telling everyone that this year Santa Clause is going to gift me that doll. I don’t know how my parents organised a similar doll for me and that doll was so pretty and gorgeous. I can’t forget that memory. I don’t know how my parents must have got that. There are a lot of good memories like having good food, plum cake, we would enjoy so much on Christmas eve. I was in convent school so I had a lot of fun with my friends. This year, I just want to pray that all things should get better and 2021 should be a rocking year for everybody. We have lost a lot of people in the past year, so I pray everybody should be happy and fine.

Aanushka Ramesh: My fondest Christmas memory from childhood is our family get-togethers and gorging on all the Christmas treats. We stayed in a neighbourhood where there were lots of Catholics and they would all send us sweets, plum cakes etc and, on Christmas Day, we would all get together and have a blast! Also, we never kept a Christmas tree but I loved going to my friend’s houses and helping them decorate their trees. I was always fascinated by Christmas trees! I’d definitely like my secret Santa to make the world as normal as soon as possible and make everyone’s wishes, including mine, come true!

Vijay Pushkar: During my childhood, the society where we stayed had a 70% of catholic, so we used to wait for a December and Christmas to come as we knew we would be going to receive gifts from Santa and used to count days from 1st December. It was a 10-day celebration in a society and every day, one new Santa used to come from a church for evening prayer to different families with so many gifts and goodies. We would be so happy to see Santa, dancing and singing songs and with his bags of goodies. We used to go and hug him first and then he would distribute the gifts. These precious little movements have stayed with me as memories. From my secret Santa this year, I want a good television show.

Pratick Chaudharry: When I was a child, after coming back from school, I would buy small decorations with my friends to decorate our Christmas tree and light it up. We would order cake and food and celebrate. Now, we are all grown up, so we don’t get the time to celebrate like before. But I make sure to visit Mount Mary Church on every Christmas eve. This year, all I want from Santa is a Covid-free world. So, we all can live our lives like before, no mask and sanitiser to be needed, no social-distancing. We all can freely hug each other and celebrate this beautiful Christmas festival without any fear.

Avinash Mishra: I remember my school days, on Christmas, I danced in front of Santa to get the bigger chocolate. If Secret Santa could bring me the Covid-vaccine soon, that will be the best gift!