Have you ever tried revisiting your childhood by doing crazy things such as licking a lolly-pop or playing with your favourite Barbie? Recently, (to be precise yesterday itself) I relived my childhood by going to my gaav ka mela. I stay in a place called Vadgaonsheri in Pune, which is sandwiched between two posh localities namely Kalyani Nagar and Viman Nagar, yet this small suburb of Pune has kept its traditions alive. With IT parks, restaurants, malls and multiplexes, it is no longer a gaav, but does have a mela, every year!
My parents are very religious (yet secular) and we host a Gajanan Maharaj Prakat Din at our place and around 300 people visit our home and have lunch! On the same occasion, bunch of my friends had come to my place and I managed to persuade them into going to the fair. There was a splash of colour and lights everywhere. There were piggy banks made of clay in various shapes such as pots and gas cylinders, junk jewellery, kiddie stuff- talwar, gada and whistles. My pick of the day was a Shakalaka Boom Boom fame pencil which glows red and blue when put on!
We sat in an interesting ride called ‘Torra- torra’, which is somewhat like a giant wheel but slightly tilted (tedha). We had to persuade a friend into it for like 15 minutes and finally he agreed. And later, one could hear him shout, ‘Wee… yaay..”. from the top of the ride, we could see the bright and illuminated Pune city. I remembered the days when my brother and I would go to the fair with our parents… kya din the woh! We would throw tantrums to sit in a ride twice, to buy useless toys and sweets and they would ultimately have to give in to our ‘requests’. I would also go with my friends and there were incidents when some goonda guys would follow us and we would shoo them away in our own ishtyle. Those were the days of real enjoyment.
Yesterday, I felt the same vibes running through me and it seemed as if time had taken me 10 years back… it was the same innocent and fun-loving me.
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