Harnoor Channi-Tiwary makes her list for Santa.
Dear Santa,
We always make long lists of all the goodies and material things we want from you every Christmas.
This year, we want to ask for something different.
These are far tougher to give... but if you could, it would mean so much!
So here is my list for what I want this Christmas:
Safety
I want to be able to go for dinner and come back home without checking my rear view mirror every few seconds.
I want to book a cab at night and not worry everyone sick back home.
I want to know that there are systems in places and laws enforced that will ensure that I am safe, wherever I go in this country.
A slower clock
My clock moves too fast.
The seconds rush by, ticking the day away.
If you could, please make my clock move a little slower.
Let me glide through my day and not always be racing to make the next deadline.
Warmer clothes for those who need them
If you have some in your goodie bag, please give warm clothes to little kids who run around without any in this freezing cold.
I know the economy is lopsided, but a pair of shoes and a warm woollen sweater will make them smile and spread cheer that this festival is associated with.
Bigger hearts
We all need to have bigger hearts -- me, my friends, family and people who have so much.
We are so involved in our selves that we forget to share.
Even if it is a tiny bit, please help us find the heart to share with those who aren't as blessed.
Humility and gratitude
You shower us every year with gifts as does God when the sun rises each morning.
We are lucky, each and every one of us.
Yet, we forget to feel grateful.
It is not our right.
Sure, we work hard for it.
But we are lucky. And there is no greater virtue than humility!
Magic
That's what you're about isn't it?
As we grow older, we get cynical and jaded.
We lose belief in magic.
What we forget is that magic is not something that exists or that which you find.
You need to create it.
We can find magic in the smallest things like the colours on a butterfly's wings.
All it takes is the readiness to see it.
Love
If there is one thing you can give everyone in this world, please give them love.
Let them feel wanted and special.
Let them mean the world to someone.
The world would be a happier place if only everyone knew what they meant to those who care about them.
As the Japanese proverb goes: In the end everyone just wants to be loved!
Merry Christmas!
Photograph: Laura Haapamaki/Reuters
