Each time I go to Manek chowk in Ahmedabad, the streets look different, completely different. The last time I went there, it was around the Holi festival and you could tell that Holi was just around the corner, because everywhere, you saw the Pichkaris and the holi colours. If you were to go there in January, around the Sankranti festival, there’s kites everywhere!! And, Diwali time, it’s fire crackers and the paper lanterns and all kinds of lights! The more I see of Manek chowk, the more I wonder about its innate nature to absorb, to adapt. It seems to soak in whatever happens in the city – if people celebrate Holi, the streets of Manek chowk celebrate Holi; if people celebrate Diwali, the streets of Manek chowk are lights and firecrackers!
And right now, it’s the Raksha Bandhan festival and there’s Rakhis everywhere! It’s like seeing the reflection of nature in water…whatever is outside is there inside the water, nothing more, nothing less.
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Holi Bazaar
And right now, it’s the Raksha Bandhan festival and there’s Rakhis everywhere! It’s like seeing the reflection of nature in water…whatever is outside is there inside the water, nothing more, nothing less.
Holi Bazaar
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4 comments:
Thanks a lot for sharing the photo essay. :)
Beautiful pic. ut don't you think all our neighbourhood bazaars are also in sync with season, upcoming festivals? Infact even if one forgets in the busy corporate life it is the bazaars that remind us which season or festival is around the corner.
Anjali, that's so true! Especially, with Raksha Bandhan, you see the rakhis in the shops and you think "Oops, when is rakhi?! Now, will my rakhi reach in time?!" And, invariably, you make it in time! Thanks to the festive atmosphere on our streets!
At Manek Chowk, ALL the streets change from being Kite street, to Holi street, to Rakhi street, to Diwali crackers street to ...??? You can be immersed in the place and the festival for at least a whole month before it chooses to do anything else! So, if it's Sankranti time, almost EVERY shop there is selling kites! small ones, big ones, chinese kites! And on the streets in Manek chowk or other parts of the city, they are making 'manja'. You walk anywhere in ahmedabad and it's all about the festival. During Raksha Bandhan this time, the mithai shops had such attractive shop fronts all over the city!
You make me want to go back to Manek chowk, have been there only once.
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