Feverish About Mela

By APURVA RAI

Regrettably recreational and entertainment events are scarce in our society even though ours is a culturally rich nation. The modern-day society has also evolved in such a way where there is not much place for fairs, shows and events, particularly highlighting Indian traditions and culture.

Modernity has brought in multiplex culture and it is fashionable to visit them if you want to be known as an upwardly mobile person. Still, do you get the desired happiness or you go there with your family and make it your day. As far as my information goes a large number of people still do not go to watch a movie in a multiplex with their families; first it is very unaffordable and second we rarely have a cinema that stands up to the expectations and liking of all family members.

Yet another gift of modern-day society are shopping malls. Metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad etc have some very plush malls with superb air conditioning and high class shops which display goods and articles that you cannot afford to buy easily and just stand outside with eyes wide open and saying 'wow, next time I will buy this dress on my birthday'. Hanging around inside a mall has become a favourite past time among urbanites because there is no entry fee and you can be there as long as you wish. Secondly, the malls pamper your desires and elevate your ambitions. Just grab a softy and occupy a seat in the food court or walk around for free window shopping in air conditioned environs. Several hours gone and your spirits are on top of the world.

What else other than a movie in a multiplex or a visit to the shopping mall? Well, you have a few theatre, dance and drama shows, music concerts, painting exhibitions etc but once again the entry tickets are expensive here too. As an exception, you have some shows where you can obtain an invite but that does not come always. All these have a select audience which is, by and large, financially well off and does not mind spending an extra buck for an evening of entertainment.

In such a scenario the middle class section, striving to strike a balance between the wallet and a good taste, is hit hard.  Watching a movie with the entire family is exorbitant. Sometimes the husband-wife watch a movie of their choice together and sometimes the children go with their friends and spend some pocket money in a film or food court or both. This is how happiness is derived  in most our middle class families and they are able to maintain a 'standard of living' as well. 

Strangely and for unknown reasons the culture of street music, street dancing, street plays or public display of paintings has not taken off in India though we have imitated the West up to the hilt. The middle class person is, thus, deprived of an easy, effective, appealing, tasteful and pocket-friendly medium of collective entertainment. We get 'very busy' in meeting social and family obligations or just confine ourselves within the boundaries of our home and spend time talking on phone, watching soaps or reality shows or fiddling with the keyboard of our laptops. There are very few of us who have developed or pursue some kind of indoor hobby like music, singing, cooking, sewing, embroidery, gardening etc; so this recreational activity is also ruled out. So what to eat and what to wear largely keeps us engaged during weekends.

The Dussehra festivities have concluded in most of north India and preparations are underway to celebrate Deepavali-- the festival of lights and happiness. The biggest attraction of these festivities is staging of Ramlila-- the biggest socio-cultural event that takes place in every city of north India, big or small, and attracts huge crowd for both, religious and entertainment reasons. It is perhaps the only known public stage show where, by and large, there is no entry ticket and more importantly there should not be one.

Yet another attraction of Ramlila is the local roadside flea market that springs alongside the show. Though children are more excited even the elders wait for the mela, as we all call it, where colourful bow and arrow, small shiny swords, clay or plastic toys and lots of food and snacks attract attention. Brightly lit and very well illuminated entertainment activities like magic shows, photo shoot in makeshift studios, seesaw, giant wheel rides and rifle shooting and much more go on to create an atmosphere of fun, happiness and entertainment. 

In practical terms the nine-day complete show brings with it employment opportunity for hundreds of people and also provides business platform opportunities for local vendors. It would definitely be silly to talk of standard and quality of production as such these things rarely carry any meaning on such occasions.

Right from my childhood days till date, when I have already spent over five decades of my life, I wait for Navratra when Ramlila is staged and the mela is organised. I have been a regular to the mela while I was growing and lived with my parents in north Delhi's Shakti Nagar locality. Luck favoured me when we shifted to Noida in National Capita Region (NCR) after my father raised a small house for us even though I was a grown up youth by now.

Which builder gives spare chunk of land?

Ramlila Ground, adjacent to Noida Stadium and just a walking distance behind my home is perhaps the only multi-purpose open space where Ramlila event is annual affair. Besides this the ground also serves as space to organise numerous events, fairs, shows or exhibitions. During Navratras the Ramlila Ground turns into home to a large event, with a rural hint. I see a thousands of people thronging to the place covering long distance and staying in fast upcoming plush societies or townships where luxurious living is the keyword to modernity your life is a style statement. Builder apartments, as they are famous, are home to new age living with many facilities like a gym, spa, jogging track, swimming pool, golf course, colourful fountains and much more but never provide even a single inch of space to follow your traditions and open air cultural events. The builders are not even shy selling the greenery and openness but fall short of describing the size of single chunk of land they spare for the residents. This is called an age of commercialisation and traditions do not fetch revenues.

Then Ramlila Ground, falling at the crossing of sectors 12 and 22 in Noida is a single large piece of land-- undeveloped, uneven, congested, noisy and over-occupied during fairs where you can find people rubbing shoulders with one another. Still, I wait for the whole year for the ten-day Ramlila Mela which is distinctly different and draws my fancy more than any city mall or the glitters of a township.

The entry to the mela is free and people start gathering here from five in the evening. I have never failed to visit the event even once in the last three decades of my stay in Noida. Reaching here I find not only the commonest of common man visiting the place but there are people from upper middle class too. Of course, such people will abstain from this dusty, crowded and rustic place who believe in show off culture and have mere bookish or half knowledge about the ground realities of our country. 

The mela has makeshift shops lined up from one corner to another displaying and selling local stuff of all kind. There are small vendors who display and sell their goods on the ground to make small gains. Besides this there are lots of food stalls selling all kinds of desi stuff or even the localised version of everyone's favourite chowmein or burgers. No one can ever match the rock bottom prices though hygeine is an issue one can raise issues about. Yet the food stalls are fully occupied and do a brisk business.

Time changes quickly; in my childhood days we bought small, colourful, hand-painted clay toys but now they are replaced by the ones made of plastic. While there is a ban on use of plastic bags but toys are sold without any questions asked. Anyway toys are toys and we all love them. I used to buy some for my son when he was a kid but now that he has grown up and lives abroad I still find a reason or two to buy a few, particularly for the children of our domestic help. I have a firm belief that even if a small purchase is made from these poor, street vendors it not only gives you a strong and happy feeling of satisfaction that you have helped someone who is working hard even at late hours to bring joy in his family.

Ramlila Mela in Noida is replete with rural flavour, fervour, clamour and ambience. While there is no nautanki, the stage drama of yesteryears prevalent in rural India you have all other ingredients like a small magic show, culture show, bike stunt in 'Maut ka Kuan' or the death well, a very indigenous or more appropriately a makeshift desi photo studio to welcome you. These are the things that are on the wane in modern malls or luxurious townships. Various events are held in the malls too but all that is commercial venture and in no way supports our traditions, poor artisans, small vendors or fast disappearing folk art or music.

The festivities conclude after ten days of extravaganza. People return to their homes, food stalls disappear, shopkeepers pack up and the Ramlila Ground once again looks like a barren piece of land or gets ready for some other public exhibition.

I am also back home with lots of happy memories. But my wait begins for the next year when yet another chapter of the mela will bring back my childhood , the excitement, enthusiasm and energy for life and make me feel young. Every year the mela come and, for me, every year its like yesterday once more.

NOTE
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'बदला दौर, बदली दिवाली'

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