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THE SANTA GAMBIT

By - ocauser

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The calendar years were coming to an end. After the oppressive heat during the summers and heavy downpour during the monsoons, winter came with a soothing balm to all souls. The last time Kolkata went merry was during the Durga Puja, where streets were filled with lights, crowds dispersing from puja pandals and hawkers shouting their lungs out to sell their mouthwatering dishes. Kolkata embraces Christmas with a unique blend of tradition, community spirit, and festivity. The city transforms into a winter wonderland, with Park Street at its vibrant core, glowing with dazzling lights, decorated trees, and the bustling Kolkata Christmas Festival. Midnight mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral draws thousands, offering a serene and spiritual experience, while the Anglo-Indian community in Bow Barracks brings the streets alive with music, dance, and hearty celebrations. Christmas in Kolkata transcends religious boundaries, bringing people together in a shared celebration of joy, harmony, and the magic of the season.

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However, if one diverts their attention from the winter epicentre, there are thousands of homes that take the onus of decorating their homes in their own way and telling wonderful bedtime stories to their children about the Santa Claus who would secretly sneak into their homes and leave their presents beside their pillow covers. However, the key highlight of the day was how the students of Orchid Chess Academy welcomed the arrival of Christmas in our own way.

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After a tedious week of playing tournaments and mundane traveling, the students engaged themselves in decorating the laboratory of chess—their own chess classes! The curious ones entered the academy eager to decorate the walls with streamers and balloons and buy miniature models of Santa Claus and place them beside the Christmas tree. Within the blink of an eye, the room, which was the storehouse of books and undisturbed chess boards, became a laudatory expression for the birth of Christ. The hard work from the two-day labour on 23rd and 24th December yielded fruit

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On the day of Christmas, all the invited students and parents entered the well-decorated rooms with the little ones roaming around with Santa caps and the parents gathering for a small gossip. Members from the Advance group booked a room and locked themselves in to shoot for a secret script that was to be presented at the end of the day. The script was about how a manager running a chess club (played by Ilhan Mansiz) is intruded upon by two people, an outspoken student (played by Antoreep Bhaduri) and his sarcastic father (played by Diptayan Debchoudhury). The shooting of the script was so hilarious with Diptayan forgetting his lines quite often, Ilhan doing his expected “overacting,” and Antoreep laughing his heart out. At the end, we even saw a cameo role from Debanjan Chakrobarty as a security guard, which became a key highlight of the day.

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When the sketch comedy was presented in the class, everyone laughed their hearts out and exchanged giggles. The day became joyful each moment, and students secretly hoped that it would not end.

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Lastly, some of the “critically acclaimed” singers of OCA decided to revive their unfulfilled dream of entering Bollywood by singing in chess class. Although Sir and Ma’am forced Sayan, Himadri, and Antoreep to sing, it seemed to be something more of a disaster. Hence, the idea was called off, and only Diptayan and Ilhan contributed positively to the camaraderie. Meanwhile, the foodies grabbed snacks like fruitcake and chips, where we conveniently left the cake and devoured the chips. We ate and left no crumbs.

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As the night progressed, the atmosphere grew even livelier with the singing of Christmas carols and a toast to the year gone by. The event concluded with group photos around the Christmas tree and heartfelt wishes for the new year. It was an evening that beautifully combined the members’ shared love for chess with the joy and togetherness of the holiday season.

By : Antoreep Bhaduri