In Santa’s Shoes

A grade 10 dropout,Iqbal’s life-long ambition has been to act. He wants to morph into other people and act the part. His father,like his forefathers,works the fields in his hometown Alwar,in Rajasthan,but Iqbal has moved to the city,hopeful that the Capital will be kinder than Mumbai was,where he had once gone in the hope of becoming an actor. Now he hopes Delhi will give him the one big break that he requires. “The stage waits for no one. I needed to get out early to find my way,” he says. While he waits to fulfill his Bollywood dreams,he doesn’t mind his Park Avenue gig,or the other characters — usually Charlie Chaplin or the Joker — that he is hired to play at commercial spaces from time to time. “I just don’t have a camera in front of me,but it doesn’t mean I don’t play the role perfectly,” he says tritely,adding that each commission brings him about Rs 4,000.

Christmas in the city is incomplete without the men in red and white suits,their eyes twinkling behind faux glasses,their white beards completing the ensemble. Most of these men who play Santa at malls and showrooms,lead an interesting life otherwise. Amit Andrews,27,for instance,has traded his boardroom suit for Santa’s red costume. After a MBA in finance from University College London (UCL),he walked straight into a top level managerial role in Jet Airways,London. As the recession hit the US,Andrews returned to India,joining the American Express bank this time. His high-powered job,as Area Acquisition Manager was everything his family had hoped for. “But I got fed-up of meeting targets. The corporate world sucked me in,” he huffs,as he dabs glue to stick on a white moustache. He quit in October,choosing to try his luck as a musician instead. During his years in London,he had strummed the guitar and played at departmental stores like Selfridges. Now,he is the resident performer at the Select CityWalk mall in Saket. It’s his performance skills that made the mall choose to play Santa as well. “Not many Santas sing,I can offer more than a ho-ho-ho,” he quips. Alongside,he is working on a business strategy to tie-up with corporates for musical interchange. Oddly it pays better than the white-collar job did when the season is on; he earns Rs 15,000 per day,money that he plans to re-invest in his new entertainment marketing business.

Dan Sharan Lyall,67,was a teacher in a government school in Shimla till he was transferred to Indonesia to teach in the Jakarta Gandhi Memorial School. “That move changed my life. I lost my son,and suffered pain. Now I just want to help people,make them happy,” he says. Every winter season since,he plays Santa at malls,trying to raise funds for his new project: a play school in Gurgaon. “Children have always gravitated towards me and one is never too old to teach,” he says,dishing out candies to children at DLF Promenade in Vasant Kunj. His efforts bring him Rs 6,000 per day.

Indophile Ralph Adams,60,is on his ninth visit to India,but instead of indulging in touristy activities,he is holed up at the Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj. His white beard has roped him in to unpaid work. He is dressed as Father Christmas,the beard and the glasses give him the perfect pitch. His Indian friend who works in the mall,thought him appropriate for the role. “They wanted a white Santa,and I fit the bill perfectly,” says the former computer technician,who says it’s a role he has played every Christmas back home in the US. “I don’t get paid to play Santa in India,but the spicy food that I get more than makes up for it,” he grins.