Putturu. When I was a kid, it was always celebration for me to go there. It was the only town nearest to my house where I used to get to do shopping, to eat at hotel. It is the place where I first saw a movie inside a theater. My atte's house is near Puttur called Panjigudde. It has always been a household filled with people. More so, during the summer vacations. So, I never missed staying there for few days during every vacations.
During one such stays, I attended the Putturu Mahalingeshwara Temple fair during the night time. Like every kid, I was truly fascinated by its glitter and size. Sure, I had attended some fares before but not of the same scale and never during night. Also, I was always accompanied with my parents all other times whereas here, it was my cousin Narayana who took me there along with a gang of kids of my age. He has been a witness and teacher for many of the things in my life till I came to Bangalore to pursue Engineering. While we were roaming in fare, he was talking about "Bedi" (Firecracker show) which was going to happen next day. He had got me excited with its description.
Next day, we went to see the Bedi. It happens just before the chariot gets pulled in by the devotees. We stood very near to the place where firecrackers were getting blown. I was completely in awe with the kind of patterns I saw on the sky. As the time progressed, the intensity of sound also started increasing. At one point it felt as if the loud sound of crackers caused earthquake. A mini stampede ensued immediately. A chats gaadi was run over, got destroyed and poor guy's money box also fell down. People stopped to pick the money up, got hold of whatever they could and ran. Because of all these, it remained the most fascinating experience for me.
I have witnessed Bedi many times after that first experience, but it has hardly failed to impress me. Every time during the fair, the amount of money spent on Bedi gets discussed. It has been going up every year. I get call from my cousin every year during the fair. After coming to Bangalore, I had not been able to make it most of the times. But this time fortunately it was held during election time and I was in my native. I decided to catch up with it.
But it felt different this time. While I was still getting amused at the display on sky (despite my resentment towards it for causing all sorts of pollution), I didn't see the excitement in people. Other than the few kids, most of the people looked disinterested. May be it was like that always like that and I am feeling that way only because of the memory of my first experience.
There was a newly installed idol of Shiva. Every person standing around it had their phone out, trying to take pictures. From no land line connection to basic mobile phone to camera phone, the penetration of this handheld device to even small towns has taken no time.
Fairs are never complete without the Giant wheels. But pray that no one vomits. I have seen it happening! Ok, clear that disgusting image from your head and take a look at the image below. That should make you feel better.
After having to wait for long for the firecracker show to start, it had finally begun. And I immediately got transported to the opening scene of Apocalypse Now, thanks to the amount of smoke it produced.
The popularity of Chota Bheem and Angry Birds on children is phenomenal these days. There doesn't seem to exist any child above the age of 2 or 3 who doesn't know about either of these. And marketers are en-cashing on them completely.
Even though the Bedi didn't really engage a lot of people this time around, it had its moments.
Putturu fair has been renowned for it's Bedi and I think it will remain so for years to come. Hopefully, I will keep revisiting it as it brings back some fine memories of my childhood.
During one such stays, I attended the Putturu Mahalingeshwara Temple fair during the night time. Like every kid, I was truly fascinated by its glitter and size. Sure, I had attended some fares before but not of the same scale and never during night. Also, I was always accompanied with my parents all other times whereas here, it was my cousin Narayana who took me there along with a gang of kids of my age. He has been a witness and teacher for many of the things in my life till I came to Bangalore to pursue Engineering. While we were roaming in fare, he was talking about "Bedi" (Firecracker show) which was going to happen next day. He had got me excited with its description.
Next day, we went to see the Bedi. It happens just before the chariot gets pulled in by the devotees. We stood very near to the place where firecrackers were getting blown. I was completely in awe with the kind of patterns I saw on the sky. As the time progressed, the intensity of sound also started increasing. At one point it felt as if the loud sound of crackers caused earthquake. A mini stampede ensued immediately. A chats gaadi was run over, got destroyed and poor guy's money box also fell down. People stopped to pick the money up, got hold of whatever they could and ran. Because of all these, it remained the most fascinating experience for me.
I have witnessed Bedi many times after that first experience, but it has hardly failed to impress me. Every time during the fair, the amount of money spent on Bedi gets discussed. It has been going up every year. I get call from my cousin every year during the fair. After coming to Bangalore, I had not been able to make it most of the times. But this time fortunately it was held during election time and I was in my native. I decided to catch up with it.
But it felt different this time. While I was still getting amused at the display on sky (despite my resentment towards it for causing all sorts of pollution), I didn't see the excitement in people. Other than the few kids, most of the people looked disinterested. May be it was like that always like that and I am feeling that way only because of the memory of my first experience.
There was a newly installed idol of Shiva. Every person standing around it had their phone out, trying to take pictures. From no land line connection to basic mobile phone to camera phone, the penetration of this handheld device to even small towns has taken no time.
Fairs are never complete without the Giant wheels. But pray that no one vomits. I have seen it happening! Ok, clear that disgusting image from your head and take a look at the image below. That should make you feel better.
After having to wait for long for the firecracker show to start, it had finally begun. And I immediately got transported to the opening scene of Apocalypse Now, thanks to the amount of smoke it produced.
The popularity of Chota Bheem and Angry Birds on children is phenomenal these days. There doesn't seem to exist any child above the age of 2 or 3 who doesn't know about either of these. And marketers are en-cashing on them completely.
Even though the Bedi didn't really engage a lot of people this time around, it had its moments.
Putturu fair has been renowned for it's Bedi and I think it will remain so for years to come. Hopefully, I will keep revisiting it as it brings back some fine memories of my childhood.
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