Noida: These Santas don’t come on a sleigh but in autos, bikes, metro and cars.
Every Christmas, ordinary people don the Santa suit to spread cheer. Restaurateur Sushil Dubey rents a suit every year and brings warmth to Govindpuram slum children with blankets and snacks. In Noida, playschool teacher Sana Sheikh surprises kids in her society dressed as Santa with chocolates, while taxi driver Rahul Kumar slips into the traditional red suit at GIP Mall, not for money but for fun.
“Seeing their faces light up is worth every effort. For these children, a small gesture can go a long way to make Christmas magical and keep them warm in peak winter,” Dubey told TOI.
For Sheikh, it is the excitement among the kids as she hands out chocolates at Golden Palms, a high-rise society in Noida’s Sector 168, that gives her unfiltered joy.
“The kids, who usually call me ‘Sana ma’am’, didn’t recognise me today as I was dressed as Santa. They swarmed around me as I handed out chocolates in he morning. Their excitement was so contagious,” she said.
A Delhi resident, Akash Sharma dressed up in the iconic red suit on Wednesday morning and turned up at Arihant Paradiso in Indirapuram’s Ahinsa Khand 2 to greet children. Sharma, who runs a packaging business, collaborates with a private event management companies each year to spread the cheer.
“Call it a hobby or passion, but I have been doing this for five years now and it has really made me a better person. The joy among kids when they meet Santa is precious and can really make you feel wonderful. At times parents request me to tell their kids not to eat junk food or overuse mobile phones as they always listen to Santa,” he shared.
Some Santas went out to make the day even grander.
In Supertech Capetown, in Noida’s Sector 77, 22-year-old Aryan from Khoda Colony turned up as Santa on a ‘sledge’ — a wedding chariot he rents out for weddings all year round. “Today, I redecorated the chariot as Santa’s sledge and greeted children at some societies. Kids were overjoyed, many sat with me to take pictures too,” he said.
In Govindpuram, Kanishka, a playschool teacher, also dressed as Santa and took a chariot tour of the locality. “Many cheered and stopped to take selfies. It was such a beautiful experience,” Kanishka shared.
At many residential societies and malls, it is the housekeeping staff who hand over little treats or gifts door to door. In Sector 137, AOA president of Exotica Fresco Surojit Dasgupta said each year a housekeeping staffer plays Santa, and this year it was one Ramu Kumar. As he distributed chocolates among children from a golf cart on Wednesday, an overwhelmed Ramu described the moment as “a godly affair”.
Vivek Kumar, 36, an employee at Spectrum Metro Mall in Sector 75, has been dressing as Santa for three years. Similarly, at Gaur City Mall, Sunil Kumar (34), a mall helper, has been playing Santa for four years. “It’s heartwarming to see children’s excitement and trust when we wish them,” Sunil said.
In GIP Mall, Rahul Kumar has been a perennial Santa Claus for years. A taxi driver by profession, Rahul takes on the role not only for monetary gain but for the sheer joy it brings. “I feel like a child myself when I’m surrounded by kids and happy customers,” he said.
In a heartwarming gesture, 10 employees from EXL, a Noida-based data analytics firm, turned Santa for 60 young cancer patients at the Postgraduate Institute of Child Health Hospital in Sector 30 on Wednesday. Wearing Santa caps and armed with gifts, the group decorated a Christmas tree alongside the children and sang festive carols to spread cheer. The event was organised in collaboration with CanKids KidsCan, a leading national society dedicated to childhood cancer care in India.
“These young patients, undergoing cancer treatment at the hospital, live in on-campus accommodations with their families, often for extended periods ranging from days to a few months. For a day, the employees of EXL transformed their routine with joy and laughter, reminding the children and their families of the magic of Christmas,” Dr Nita Radhakrishnan, additional professor and HOD of pediatric hematology-oncology at PGICH, said.
Another group of IT professionals from Adobe Systems also contributed to the Christmas celebrations at the hospital by distributing muffins and cakes, and organising music and dance events for the cancer-affected children.
Simran, who runs a Santa costume outlet in Ghaziabad, said over the last five years, the demand for Santa Claus costumes has increased. “We get orders from schools, malls and even corporates who like to rent the traditional red costumes and make donations to the underprivileged,” she said.
