Last 2 weeks have been quite busy with LOT of noise around me. Having a house a few metres away from Ramlila Maidan during Navratri ensures the buzz until wee hours. I have shared a complex relationship with the 'Mela' and the subsequent noise it brought. As a 5 year old, I would anxiously wait for my Dushera holidays because that meant daily visit to the grounds for watching Ramayan acts, the rides, and some crazy fun with my cousins! :) I remember we kids being treated by my father with our respective 'shastra' for good behavior at the grounds; I always chose 'gada' being the Hanuman fan I was and still am. Spending 4 hours daily, watching Ramayan and sometimes even fighting adults 3 times my age for seats for those 11 days, was BLISS! That experience was even better than going for a movie and if that was not enough, my gang of cousins with the our shastras would play roles from Ramayan and enact them in the mornings at home. The dialogues, the lanka dehan, the Surpnakha killing with OTT make up and expressions; we were a bunch of crazy kids who stayed glued to our seats throughout the act!
Things changed with increasing commercialization, deteriorating quality of the acts and the frenzy of Ramlila died a slow death. The 5 year old me grew up and then came the new exam system in school with half-yearly exams to be held exactly after the Dushera holidays. All of a sudden, the buzz of the mela and everything around it became a nuisance to my mind and my exam preparation. The unabashed fun gave way to long study hours with the futile use of ear plugs to help concentrate on studies. How I cursed my school management to put me through this! Though, some things haven't changed much; I am still jolted out of my sleep by rowdy boys on their bikes blowing bizarre horns in the middle of the night. As much as I curse them then, I am sure to miss the madness tonight. The mela ended yesterday and the sound of some very amusing and loud songs of the 90s would make an appearance next year.
Though, this quietness is only for the time being; wait till another 2 weeks before the marriage season kicks in; I will have to plug my ears again to the DJ's constant loop of Munni, Sheila and Chameli songs given the fact that I have a community centre at a stone throw distance from my house!! :D
Love Always!
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