Wahhhh!!! Festivals

It’s the festival months of the year with Navratra and Diwali passed us in last months and now Christmas and the New Year to look ahead too. I remember as a young boy in school when festivals were the most beautiful time of the year. The time when we had those Diwali holidays and Christmas holidays and the Year ending with that 31^st night to welcome a New Year. What I loved most about all these festivals was the fun to share those beautiful time with different families, different cultures and different religion. Ramzan would be fun at home with lot of goodies at Iftars and have dad’s friend to open evening rozas with them at the table. All our building friends would wait to eat ‘Shir Khurma” on Eid ,my mum made. Eid namaz at Bandra's big Masjid. We would wait for Diwalis and those lovely plates filled with goodies like farsans and sweets. The Modaks during Ganesh chaturthi. Those lovely cakes during Christmas. Playing Garba during Navratra and singing those Bhajans, visit church and during the mass wait to hear those church bells. And the evening mass on New Year eve. During Diwali every house lit with those lovely diyas, diyas outside each home and colourfull lights on every balcony. Those beautiful star lamps during Christmas. Visit pandals with our Marathi friends during Ganesh chaturthi. Those displays during Christmas. Those mud pots filled with rose sherbet in Mohram and I remember I had visited a friend and he made me witness that Prabhat Feri. Loved hearing those shabats at Gurdwara. Eating those big motichur laddos from our Marawari friends at weddings. My god the list is endless.

I remember the time I travelled to Haridwar & Hrishikesh during Diwali. I was at the Ghats around 6pm on a beautiful winter evening, sipping on a cup of tea in a Kullad(Mud Mug) and watch the evening settling for the night. Suddenly lot of people gathered at the ghats and start performing Aarti at the ghats, the huge fire burning through this huge hand handled diya and the bhajan they were singing, it was so beautiful and soothing sound of music which reverberated the Ganga Ghat. After the aarti a lady just walked up to me and offered Prasad. And as I got up and turned to go I saw the whole place was lit with lot of colourfull lights. I can’t forget that visual which so beautifully etched in my memory and the walk next day on Laxman Jhula. I am eternally blessed to be born in this country with such diverse ethnicity.

Festivals were such wonderful and beautiful time of the year and the year to get closer to your friends from different religions and know more about their cultures.

Beautiful Religion and Beautiful Cultures and Amazing Families filled my growing up days. 

Travel & Games ...

I was in my 11^th standard (FYJC) and exploring new set of people and friends. I was at the top of my 6 feet 7 inches and confused what to do with my Height. A friend of my father(Abbas, top basketball player of India, and an Arjun Award recipient) came to meet him and saw me and asked what sports I play, well the usual games we played gulli danda, hide & seek etc. He laughed and said why you don’t come to the Basketball grounds where he played. So after a week I went to Nagpada Neighbourhood House club to play my first game. That built in my confidence and I began Learning and practising the game. The same year I was selected for National’s Maharashtra Junior team (Pune 1980-81). Well we lost at quarter finals but that put me onto playing basketball for no of years and also to travel. I came back from Pune and was offered a place in Western Railways team. My appointment was under sports quota and were allowed to work half day in office and from 3pm till 5pm I was at the grounds practising. But my desire to work in the creative field gave me an opportunity to join a theatre group and so my rehearsals from 6pm in Juhu.

But I recollect the days of my travel with western railways team. 

We got 1^st class pass for local travel and free passes for through trains. Whenever we travelled to Ratlam, Baroda, Rajkot, Jaipur, Madras etc. to play games we travelled in First class, the train would reach our destination, then our boogie would be detached from the main train taken to the yard area and stationed there. We would have electricity, water supply and we would continue our stay in the same 1^st class bogie, it would be a problem for me as I would not fit into those sleepers straight, so the space between the sleepers would be filled and a big bed used to be made with my feet going out of my cabin into the passage. Sometimes we would go on top of the compartment to take shower for fun, these big holed pipes would be our shower.

Wow! It used to be fun those days and a different experience of travel and stay. I enjoyed those meals at dhabas and Chais in Kullad( mud Mugs), those lovely snacks on platform, especially those cream roles with chai. Sometimes our bogie would be at the end of the train and we would open the small partition door and sit there watching the rail tracks going underneath. Wow!!! Lovely experience and fun filled days of travel and games.