Those were the days when every kid in the society would come out of his/her home to rollick in the dusty streets and parks for hours desperate to win a game of pitthu, chor police, vish amrit or kho kho. A routine that everyone followed ritually.
Now there has been plenty said and written on how the kids today should venture out more and indulge in physical activities. I agree. But this blog shall focus on another aspect or should I say a perk that played a major role in forcing us to get out of our air cooled homes in the blistering heat of May and June every evening.
And that perk was the combination of -- friends, games, swings and food.From 5 in the evening till 10 in the night, every day pheriwallahs would visit our streets one after the other at regular intervals offering food, toys and swings at dirt cheap prices.
A ride on a mini merry go round while gorging on a chilled and flavourful barf gola-- was truly heavenly. Add to that the fact that you would pay only Rs. 10 for that only made the deal sweeter.
The kulfi wallah would ring his brass bell hard in the air to let us know that he had arrived while toy seller would blow a plastic trumpet announcing his arrival.
Everyone had their own style.
The fact the chirpy kids and teens occupied the streets and indulged in hours and hours of games and sports only helped us to build an appetite and that's where the pheriwallahs, the saviours came to the rescue.
Kulfi faluda, barf gola, aaloo tikki, dal moth, cotton candy, ice creams, gol gappe, shakargandi and tangy churans... They had something for everybody.
But now, as outdoor spaces shrink with hordes of cars demanding parking space and on top of that the addiction to intenet, TV and high end video games, the pheriwallahs are a hibernated breed in our area.
Another major spoilsport is the opening up of CCD's and McD's in every nook and cranny. And frankly, no kid would like to be seen eating an aaloo tikki sandwich at a redi however, he wont mind getting the same stuff at double the price at McD's.
That's how our society has evolved.
On seldom occasions I do see kids playing cricket in my street but that's just a one hour affair followed by talks of whether Domino's or McD's should be chosen for dinner.
It seems they just don't have the stamina to play hard like we did... For hours at a stretch.
