MUMBAI: As children, Santa Claus was very real for us. Even if he sat under a fake Christmas tree in an Akbarally’s department store in Mumbai, with padding under his suit to give him that potbelly, and rouge on his cheeks, and a false snow white beard, which jiggled every time he said ‘Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas.’ For us, it was exciting to see other children big-eyed, nervous, eager smiles on their faces, as they waited their turn to get to Santa. Father Christmas, as he’s known in English folklore, embodies the very spirit of the season: that of love and giving.

The world overall – and our media and entertainment industry –needs a lot of loving and giving this year. Bruised and battered by the Covid2019 induced lockdowns in various states, and countries, it is celebrating Christmas with severe restrictions in place. A new mutant strain of the SARS CoV2 virus that has popped up in the UK has made governments in almost every nation jittery. Curfews, various levels of lockdowns, and border closures have been re-imposed, once again choking the breath out of any economic revival that could have happened.  

Fear is very much prevalent all around.  The season to be jolly appears to be pretty un-jolly. Christmas is going to be cold – really cold, without the warm emotions the season brings.

The good news is that various vaccines are going to be available on a massive scale. But we don’t know clearly how long they will be effective; and how much time it will be before every one of us gets a jab.

The good news is that jolly old Santa is still around. And if he is listening – which we are sure he is – we’d like him to shower the world with oodles of good gifts and tidings this Christmas 2020. Here’s a wish list from us at Indiantelevision.com for the world and the media and entertainment industry:

·    Miraculously, as if by sleight of hand or an act of God, the SARS CoV2 virus loses its potency, and does no harm to any human being. Yes, we cannot bring back the ones we have lost. But we can definitely do with knowing that we will lose no more and that we are free to go where we want to without terror coursing through our veins.

·    Now if that is not possible, ensure that the vaccines miraculously provide a permanent defence against the dratted bug and that with one fell stroke, every human being on this planet gets an injection. For that, the pharma companies and governments will have to be sensible, honest and get their acts together super quick.

·    The world we live in is a beautiful place. The lockdowns enabled us to see it for its beauty without the horrors and synthetic creations of mankind damaging it. Governments the world over and earth’s denizens need to remember this for eternity. Natural rather than artificial needs to be the mantra, if we want our future generations to enjoy it.

·    The economic engine needs to start chugging and gain momentum. Money, the magical fuel, needs to flow smoothly to enable this to take place.

·     Consumer sentiment needs to turn around from being cautious and hoarding to one which is open to spending and living life to its fullest.

·     For the media and entertainment industries, this means that brands will be willing to spend to get king and queen consumer to buy them.

·    Result: the print, television, OTT, cinema industries will serve as a good medium to induce consumers to make purchases through persuasive communications in the form of advertising and TVCs.

·    Net outcome: the red ink on the balance sheets of many a company will steadily turn to black.

·   The content that is pumped out on TV, cinemas, and OTT platforms is innovative and attracts sticky eyeballs, stickier than ever before.

·   Let new talent in every sphere of entertainment get a chance to flower, to showcase his or her skills.

·   Let inclusiveness be real, and be put into practice in day to day work: alternate sexualities, genders, differently-abled and folks from every caste and creed truly be given equal opportunity.

This is our bucket list of what we would like Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer and his boss to bring us this year. It’s by no means comprehensive; it may not even be apt, but it is the message we are sending out to the universe; hopefully it will reciprocate in full measure.

We would love you to share your wish list for Santa too. Do it. It can be fun. Please post in the comments below.