What do you get when you charge a quintessentially Indian street festival with about 10,000 watts of Music that a DJ's belting out right there on the pavement?
Maharashtra's Janmashtami Celebrations. While I wasn't in the thick of things, both location-wise and IN the crowd, I got a whiff of what makes Maharashtra the state for Indian Street festivals.
Picture this (I rather hope I'd had a picture)-
A water tanker with an attached hosepipe, about 200 people on a smallish square, right here in Viman Nagar, a part of Pune that I inhabit. Music, people dancing like there's no tomorrow- locals and students of the nearby institutes gelling together like chalk powder and wet cheese. The Music ranged from the latest bollywood hits from Partner to International hits like Papi Chulo, the crowd swaying as enthusiastically to one as jumping to the other.
There were some things at work here that made this place, and this particular celebration so true in its essence. For one, the people around didn't know each other from hell, and they weren't checking for who's Marathi and who's not. Then, the best part was none of them had no idea of how to make a Human pyramid to get on top of where they needed to be. This resulted in their climbing aboard each others' shoulders, heads, legs et al and come tumbling down time after time. There were some heated arguments and people flying in all directions.
And then the time came, when an enterprising, bantom-weight teenager managed to get on top and reach the coveted Handi. From there on, it was rapture all the way.
Wish we had half the time and quarter the joie de vivre back home in anything we do!
Phew.. That, there, right up there, was my first attempt at writing an article. I know it kinda sucks, but I still wanted to give it and you a shot!
No comments:
Post a Comment