It was a typical bloody weather in Northampton. I had arrived from the House of Habsburg (Austria) and needed rest from the jet lag. The host had shown me around the house and left for the city. So i resorted to relieve my eyes of their burden. It was almost half an hour into my sleep when the doorbell rang. I was certain, it wasn't my host, albeit i headed for the door. There were four of them. They stood in the doorway dressed up as their favourite Marvel character. I could hear the echoes of "Trick or Treat", "Trick or Treat". Oblivious of what their echoes meant, i smiled and proceeded to dip my hand in the first jar dangling from the hand of the smallest amongst them. He turns to remonstrate with me, "I will not give you any of my candies", he said. At this point, the hysteric laughter from their parents was totally lost on me. The second boy whispers, "Sir, you can have one of my toffees". "Good boy", i retorted, "Thank you very much". I took the toffee and exchanged some pleasantries with their parents and bid them "good bye!". #trickortreatgonewrong
Honestly, i have lived in Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Austria within a period of ten years but i have never seen kids going around houses whispering "Trick or Treat". I pondered what the occasion was whiles walking towards the kitchen. The dining table in the kitchen was filled with several cookies and candies. As i sat down by the dining with a cup of tea in hand, it dawned on me, "It is Halloween!" and the kids needed a "Treat." I burst out into laughter, grabbed some candies and biscuits and hurried outside of the house. I was desperately searching for them, the four kids who had endured my "Trick" and were obviously in shock. None of the neighbors had seen them. It was a frantic fifteen minutes search which yielded no results. #culturalshock
Disappointed in the trauma the kids might have endured standing in the door way in such a bloody weather, i resorted to another cup of tea. Settling down in the hall, the bell rang again. Gosh, I wished it was those four kids. Alas, it was another group of two kids, dressed up as some characters from Harry Potter. "Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat," were their echoes. That was the hallow in the Halloween and i was determined to banish my guilt. First, i brought the biscuits, then the candies then some more candies and lollipops. This was the ecstatic moment, the "Treat" the earlier four kids had anticipated. And yearly shall it remembered as my "hallowed Halloween". #culturaldifference