While I was travelling yesterday by bus, the person sitting next to me was pretty confused hearing a short giggle from me for absolutely no reason. He must have been wondering "Is this guy insane or what, giggling for no reason...kisine nitrous oxide chod diya kya bus me?" Little did he know that I was completely lost in Nostalgia back to those 5 wonderful childhood years I spent at the "Wado" in New Vaddem, Vasco. It really really makes me happy when I go back to those fun days in life. Just couldn't stop myself putting those memories down here, before anything like Amnesia attacks me[gawd...amnesia+dementia and that will make me a complete lunatic]
Well, a "Wado" is a locality where in people live in chawls or houses that often share common walls forming a very close binded community. The coolest thing about our "Wado" was the relatively common age group that all the kids shared, calling for absolute fun and mischief. We were literally a "Chhota Gang" of about 15-20 odd kids creating havoc in the afternoons till night. When the clock stroked 4:30 , all the kids would gather near the tulsi in Yogesh's porch (his trademark style of announcing his arrival being the loud and irritating "Ttlock..ttlock...ttlock" sound he would make with his tongue). And then, we would decide on the games to play :Hide and Seek, Cricket, Football, Badminton, Daba-dubi, Gulli-danda, Lagori, marbles, chor-police, and other crazy kid games. More often it would be hide and seek, cricket, chor-police or some group game, considering the huge group. The twins Kranti-1st Rupa[hehe there were two Rupas, the senior one being called 1st Rupa and the junior 2nd Rupa] would always trick us in the game of hide and seek or chor-police. The smart twins always dressed alike and when caught, Kranti would say "Hey,I am 1st Rupa re, that was a wrong call..start counting again loser hehe" , leaving us perplexed. The only person who has had success distinguishing one from the other [often through wound marks on hands/feet] was Yogesh, their younger brother. Daba-dubi had to be the roughest game in the lot, often leading to injuries though not severe. Aiming and hitting someone with that plastic or rubber ball was absolute fun the same way that dodging the attacks was. Cricket was another fun activity until the ball landed on someones window pane and into the house or tile-roof, while the one who hit the ball had to take pains to make an innocent and sorry face to get the ball back. Irritating Aai's dog Moti was another crazy thing I, Munna and Vikas would often indulge in. Kick him and then run across the opposite passages dodging his bites. Vikas being an animal lover like me had plenty of cats at home, we even nurtured a pet dog in hiding at the saw mill but alas 'rambo' just vanished one day. Like us 2nd Rupa had a pet rabbit, and the day the rabbit died, she was just inconsolable. We were such foolish brats to find it funny when 2nd Rupa cried for a dead rabbit until we realized what a 'pet' really means.
Quite often i would land up in a precarious situation for the mischiefs i had play. Like I remember being caught by the watchman while plucking Alphonso mangoes from the neighboring yard while i almost shit my pants that fateful day. In another instance, while we were pelting the drumsticks from the tree with stones, one of them just bounced back straight off the bark hitting Pallavi on her forehead while she stood inches from me and then I had no escape from her retaliation later. Another day I and Vikas set fire to the heap of dry garbage in the dump yard with absolutely no idea leading into the turn of events later. We tried our best to put it off with water, but in the end we bolted from there. When the fire fighters came in to inquire at the 'Wado', nobody knew that we were the culprits except us. There are so many instances I recollect. While i was a brat at the 'Wado', I was a complete saint in class, the studious fella. Our PT teacher having learned about my mischiefs, quoted "Don't go on his innocent looks or scholarly profile....Bahar se Gandhi, aandar se Hitler" which almost stuck to me for a while in school. All the fun and the mischief outside never really affected the studies or disciplined life at home.
The festivals always brought in more fun and bonding. Diwali marked loads of enthusiasm that every one showed to decorate the 'Narkasur' effigy and planning events for the night before burning the effigy. Staying awake the whole night, beating our custom made drums while chanting "Narkasura re Narkasura..pinlale..." on top of our voices, roaming around with the effigy in New Vaddem and getting involved in a tussle with the other rival baccha-gangs, especially Cruz's gang, watching the effigy burn with a trigger of firecrackers, dada bombs, rockets...exchanging sweets and diwali-special delicacies and enjoying the long diwali vacation.....everything is still fresh in mind. The same fervor continued in the Christmas, Holi and other festival celebration. The pic above clicked during holi by my Dad stands a testament to the fun we have had during festival time at the 'Wado'.
After we moved to our new house in a new locality, we never really found a group like the one we had at the 'Wado'. The only thing that mattered from then on was the 'SSC merit list' while fun and mischief had to take a backseat. But now that I realize, the only things which really make me happy and delighted while I go back in time are those moments spent at the 'Wado' with the great kids and people who once stayed there. Most of them have moved out now, with new faces around the 'Wado'. I wish I had a time machine or something to wind the clock and earth back in time to those lovely days. I would always cherish them for a lifetime. Those were the best days of my Life!! Somehow the kid in me seems to have died down to the turmoils and other responsibilities in life but nevertheless, the kid still hides in there somewhere.
Well, a "Wado" is a locality where in people live in chawls or houses that often share common walls forming a very close binded community. The coolest thing about our "Wado" was the relatively common age group that all the kids shared, calling for absolute fun and mischief. We were literally a "Chhota Gang" of about 15-20 odd kids creating havoc in the afternoons till night. When the clock stroked 4:30 , all the kids would gather near the tulsi in Yogesh's porch (his trademark style of announcing his arrival being the loud and irritating "Ttlock..ttlock...ttlock" sound he would make with his tongue). And then, we would decide on the games to play :Hide and Seek, Cricket, Football, Badminton, Daba-dubi, Gulli-danda, Lagori, marbles, chor-police, and other crazy kid games. More often it would be hide and seek, cricket, chor-police or some group game, considering the huge group. The twins Kranti-1st Rupa[hehe there were two Rupas, the senior one being called 1st Rupa and the junior 2nd Rupa] would always trick us in the game of hide and seek or chor-police. The smart twins always dressed alike and when caught, Kranti would say "Hey,I am 1st Rupa re, that was a wrong call..start counting again loser hehe" , leaving us perplexed. The only person who has had success distinguishing one from the other [often through wound marks on hands/feet] was Yogesh, their younger brother. Daba-dubi had to be the roughest game in the lot, often leading to injuries though not severe. Aiming and hitting someone with that plastic or rubber ball was absolute fun the same way that dodging the attacks was. Cricket was another fun activity until the ball landed on someones window pane and into the house or tile-roof, while the one who hit the ball had to take pains to make an innocent and sorry face to get the ball back. Irritating Aai's dog Moti was another crazy thing I, Munna and Vikas would often indulge in. Kick him and then run across the opposite passages dodging his bites. Vikas being an animal lover like me had plenty of cats at home, we even nurtured a pet dog in hiding at the saw mill but alas 'rambo' just vanished one day. Like us 2nd Rupa had a pet rabbit, and the day the rabbit died, she was just inconsolable. We were such foolish brats to find it funny when 2nd Rupa cried for a dead rabbit until we realized what a 'pet' really means.
Quite often i would land up in a precarious situation for the mischiefs i had play. Like I remember being caught by the watchman while plucking Alphonso mangoes from the neighboring yard while i almost shit my pants that fateful day. In another instance, while we were pelting the drumsticks from the tree with stones, one of them just bounced back straight off the bark hitting Pallavi on her forehead while she stood inches from me and then I had no escape from her retaliation later. Another day I and Vikas set fire to the heap of dry garbage in the dump yard with absolutely no idea leading into the turn of events later. We tried our best to put it off with water, but in the end we bolted from there. When the fire fighters came in to inquire at the 'Wado', nobody knew that we were the culprits except us. There are so many instances I recollect. While i was a brat at the 'Wado', I was a complete saint in class, the studious fella. Our PT teacher having learned about my mischiefs, quoted "Don't go on his innocent looks or scholarly profile....Bahar se Gandhi, aandar se Hitler" which almost stuck to me for a while in school. All the fun and the mischief outside never really affected the studies or disciplined life at home.
The festivals always brought in more fun and bonding. Diwali marked loads of enthusiasm that every one showed to decorate the 'Narkasur' effigy and planning events for the night before burning the effigy. Staying awake the whole night, beating our custom made drums while chanting "Narkasura re Narkasura..pinlale..." on top of our voices, roaming around with the effigy in New Vaddem and getting involved in a tussle with the other rival baccha-gangs, especially Cruz's gang, watching the effigy burn with a trigger of firecrackers, dada bombs, rockets...exchanging sweets and diwali-special delicacies and enjoying the long diwali vacation.....everything is still fresh in mind. The same fervor continued in the Christmas, Holi and other festival celebration. The pic above clicked during holi by my Dad stands a testament to the fun we have had during festival time at the 'Wado'.
After we moved to our new house in a new locality, we never really found a group like the one we had at the 'Wado'. The only thing that mattered from then on was the 'SSC merit list' while fun and mischief had to take a backseat. But now that I realize, the only things which really make me happy and delighted while I go back in time are those moments spent at the 'Wado' with the great kids and people who once stayed there. Most of them have moved out now, with new faces around the 'Wado'. I wish I had a time machine or something to wind the clock and earth back in time to those lovely days. I would always cherish them for a lifetime. Those were the best days of my Life!! Somehow the kid in me seems to have died down to the turmoils and other responsibilities in life but nevertheless, the kid still hides in there somewhere.
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