Those were the Days…
These four words, “Those Were The Days” is usually heard from our grandparents or even our parents when they share stories of their times. And like them, I also plan to share the stories of my time to my grandchildren. But it seems time flies quicker these days and it just took me 26 years to spell these four words, “those were the days”.
The festive month is here as we all celebrate Dashain and Tihar. I turned up my calendar right side of my table looking for the dates of my travel and happen to realize that Dashain is near. This makes me say, “those were the days”, when I don’t turn up my calendar to realize that Dashain is nearby. It used to be the colorful kites above that gives me the vibes that Dashain is here. All starts from 10 – 15 days before the Dashain festival is inaugurated. The sky used to be filled with colorful kites and people around on the terrace screaming “changa chaiit”. Well, it’s sad to say that in a decade the sky are clear and the environment is quiet. This is probably the most disheartening change that we people could face in the name of clean and quiet.
Those were the days, when schools were over for Dashain holidays, all my classmates, brothers and neighbors plan for Changa competitions. The tables of every houses used to be full of Changa and Lattai. Every shops nearby had varieties of Kites and Lattai to offer. I remember the charm and struggle of convincing our parents to get changa for Dashain. Pocket money were saved from days to get enough change for the celebration of Dashain. Sadly, the same street have gone empty. I barely get to see shops selling kites and children these days showing interest in playing them. The Dashain holidays today is; children engaged over mobile games and television. My neighbor brother comes running from school with a happy feeling of Dashain Holidays and make plans to watch movies and play mobile games. I have seen him lying down the sofa and watching TV all day and night. It seems the colors have faded from the lives of people today.
Those were the days, when Dashain was an occasion when families come together. It used to be the longest holiday that we used to have and we make plans to travel new places and have some fun. I remember, we used to make plans before Dashain holidays on which place we visit and what fun we would do. But, now the time has gotten shorter. In this busy era today, even holidays have shorten and plans of holidays with families are fading. People are bound to get back to their work life in just a matter of 3-4 days. Those were the days, when roads used to be empty as everyone travelled to their hometown to celebrate Dashain with families. Well, today the City Roads seems to be running like other usual days.
Dashain is a festival, where we see big swings made of bamboo build in different places as there is a saying, “ you must leave the land once during the festive days of Dashain”. Those were the days, when adults used to get engaged in building those big swings way before the Dashain festival started. Children used to gather around those swings and play for hours. There used to be a long wait to get our turn to play on those swings and try hard to swing higher and higher. But these days, I hardly see those long bamboo swing build. People have adopted new set of activities to engage themselves and left out the traditions; as also the city has cut down the spaces.
Those were the days, when Dashain used to bring joy and a lot of excitements over the lives of people. The essence of Dashain is fading; the holidays are getting dull, the skies have lost its colors, the voices have lowered, family time are being cut down, well the list goes on….
It took the whole life of my grandparents and almost half a century for my parents to share the words “those were the days” and on the flip side of the coin it has taken just 26 years for me to spell those four words. No wonder how many years shall deduct for the coming generations to spell it again….. “ Those Were The Days”
