First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"It started with the wind, on a cold night, much like this. It was almost Christmas, but this Christmas was darker, less cheerful. But I still believed in Santa, in magic and miracles, and the hope that we could find joy again. But our village had given up on miracles, and on each other. They had forgotten the spirit of Christmas, the sacrifice of giving. And my family was no different. I tried to help them to believe again, but we were no longer the loving family I remembered. They too had given up. And eventually, so did I. And for the first time, I didn't wish for a miracle. I wished for them to go away. A wish I would come to regret. And that night, in the darkness of a howling blizzard... I got my wish. I knew Saint Nicholas was not coming this year. Instead, it was a much darker, more ancient spirit. The shadow of Saint Nicholas. It was Krampus. And as he had for thousands of years, Krampus came not to reward, but to punish, not to give, but to take. He, and his helpers. I could only listen as they dragged my family into the underworld, knowing that I would be next. But Krampus didn't take me that night... He left me, as a reminder of what happens when hope is lost, when belief is forgotten... and the Christmas spirit dies."
"I'm old enough to know when life is coming at me with its pants down."
"Linda: It's Christmas. Nothing bad is going to happen on Christmas!"
"You Better Watch Out."
"I knew there was going to be a bit of an uproar, but you know, I love Christmas, too. It’s a pro-Christmas film, but in order to get that point across, it sort of takes you through a waking nightmare. One of my biggest inspirations was A Christmas Carol, which is a ghost story, and a really scary nightmare if you think about it. It takes you through this nightmare in order to just reaffirm the true meaning of the holiday, and we really wanted to do something similar."
"Adam Scott — Tom Engel"
"Toni Collette — Sarah Engel"
"Emjay Anthony — Max Engel"
"Krista Stadler — Omi Engel"
"David Koechner — Howard"
"Allison Tolman — Linda"
"Conchata Ferrell — Aunt Dorothy"
"Stefania LaVie Owen — Beth Engel"
"Gideon Emery — Krampus (voice)"
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.