INTRODUCTION
Festivals are a source of enjoyment and fun for us. I enjoyed them all during every year.
The most important was Dussehra being a festival for 10 full days.
CONTENTS
Introduction (message from me) Page 1
Contents Page 2
Fairs & Festivals Dussehra Pages 3-4
Stamp & Cigarette Packet Collection Pages 5-6
Fairs and Festivals- Dussehra
The schools had Holidays after Mid -Term and Half yearly examinations in September and December. These holidays were planned by School Authorities to fall during the Dussehra Navaratri festival and Christmas. These examinations will be over by just commencement of Navaratri festival culminating with Dussehra and just before Christmas respectively.
The Navaratri festival of 10 days in the house was a big occasion. Just 15 days before the festival of Navaratri whole house will be white washed. On commencement of Navaratri the doors are decorated with Mango leaves and Main door with flowers to give a festive look. The first day the pooja starts with lighting of three big Lamps two of oil and one of Ghee. All the 10 days our family Purohit comes and does the pooja in the house. The more important days on Saraswathi pooja, Ayudha pooja and Durgastami special pooja is done. All these 10 days special food preparations are done and offerings to the family Deity will be done. Additional Brahmins are called for meals and they are given Dakshina in cash with fruits, betel leaves and betel nuts for blessing the family.
Special care will be taken by grandmother to see that different kinds of sweets are prepared on all these 10 days. She plans different kinds of sweets for watch day of Navaratri. My father will get new clothes for the whole family. The whole 10 days we used to enjoy with no school, plenty of variety and rich food with festive atmosphere in the house wearing the new clothes.
On day one of Navaratri festival starting on first day of Ashwija month of Telugu calendar my mother would start the display of dolls. In the main Hall of the house a gallery of stepped display is set up using old trunks so that it forms a series of stepped display. This is covered with a good bed sheet and in each step dolls of different categories are placed both of animals, birds and humans. We take pride in arranging these dolls. My mother had collected a number of dolls for the purpose and keeps them safe for display each year. This is called Bommala Koluvu. In the evening the nearby ladies are called am Aarathi is done, songs of sung and prasadam in the form of sweets are distributed. We as children will go to all houses and have the different kinds of sweets.
Thus, the Dussehra days we enjoyed eating sweets from morning till night.
The main Dussehra Day more people and relatives and friends are also invited for lunch. In the evenings we go to all relatives’ homes meet them and have their blessings. All these 10 days we will all make a visit to the temples to offer our prayers.
There was a Satyanarayana temple in nearby Hyderbasty. This temple is still there in the year 2014. The practice in the temple was to have an exhibition depicting scenes from epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavatha with full lighting and decorations. It was a rich scene to be seen every day. The scene changes every day for all these 10 days of Navaratri. We will visit this temple without missing it even for a day. There was also a Navagraha temple in the corner of Jeera Compound. This temple also exists as on today. This temple we will also visit in the festivals.
On Dussehra day there is a procession of people on the Karbala Maidan to participate in the mobile market selling all sorts of festivities. People walk majestically with a fresh corn plant with corn casket in built specially sold in markets on Dussehra day. All people will be in new attractive clothes and the whole atmosphere charged with festive look.
The NSRRTD buses both city and District Buses will all be decorated with flowers, cut plantain tress and mango leaves. They would have done Ayudha pooja to all buses, plant and machinery a couple of days before on Ayudha pooja day. The passengers in the buses feel pride to travel in those decorated buses.
Our school teachers used to give lot of home work to be done during these holidays. Immediately on commencement of Holidays we complete the home work in a day or two and to enjoy holidays on subsequent days. We were eagerly waiting for these holidays every year.
Today people have very little time to have this celebration. They have cut down the same to a moderate scale in the name of Modernisation. It is due to constrain the time, space and aptitude depriving themselves of our customs and happiness thereof.
Stamps and Cigarette Packet Collection
The hobbies in vogue were;
1. Collection of postage stamps of different denomination
2. Currency of different countries in different designs and colours,
3. Labels of empty match boxes of different colours and design of different makes such as Cheetah Fight, Koil, Parrot etc.
4. Collection of empty cigarette packets of scissors, passing show, Charminar, Golconda, Black& White, Red & White, Panama, Berkeley, Gold Flake, 555, Three Castles etc.
5. Collection of broken glass bangles pieces of different colors.
6. Collection of broken pieces of different colored stones.
These hobbies were giving us great satisfaction and competition among us.
The collection of postage stamps, match box labels and cigarette pack empty packets was wide spread. There was competition among the boys and girls who has the maximum numbers. The postage stamps were carefully peeled out from envelopes and correctly pasted in a particular book country wise. In case the postage stamp was not coming from the envelopes the whole envelope is put in water overnight and in the morning the postage stamps comes out easily.
Similarly the collection of match stick boxes labels; these are also taken out from the match boxes and pasted in a book in Alphabetical order. Where the label was not coming out easily from match box the same is put in water overnight and in the next morning it comes out easily. It is them dried in sun and pasted in the book.
The collection of empty cigarette packs was of interest as all these empty packets are made into a particular shape mostly circular with a big circular gap in the middle. In the middle gap we paste a picture of any cinema actor or a natural scene of nature. The empty cigarette packs are cut with scissors in a particular design.
We used to go around the city to collect these from bus stations, railways stations and other market areas on holidays and Sundays. Groups of boys will go round the city by walk in search of the items. We on a particular day bring all these collections and to show to other boys in the play ground opposite to our house.
Today presently no children are interested in these types of hobbies.
Concept: Krishna Rao Khanapur
Graphics Support: Manu Konnur
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