Tim Lak Lak De Tim Lak Lak

Remember Aamir's dialogs from 'Rang De Basanti' ? It refers to Aamir's reaction that one day all of his friends depart from each other to find their own ways.
Ek Din Ye Kuch Nahi Rahega... Life De Ishaaron Pe Nachte Jao, Tim Lak Lak De Tim Lak Lak...

I am experiencing this harsh reality today. I belong to a small town called Nagar and have got my intimate feelings with the city. People call Nagar as the Biggest Rural City because of its lack of advancements. Some of them even say that its not a city at all as Nagar could not fulfill the basic criterion of being a CITY. But I feel that there is something worth in Nagar which I could not find anywhere in the world. The worth things include my family, friend circle and the festival of Sankrant.

Unfortunately Pune do not celebrate Sankrant with zest. In Nagar you will see lots of thing happening on Sankrant. In fact, from the month of December, the skies look multicolored. Boys play kites all the day. And believe me, its not just a game, it is a ritual. I remember, making a manja ( A sharp thread using which you fly kites), the art of making a manja is called as manja sutavane in Marathi. Few days before Sankrant, you do following things in order to make sure that you own one of the best manjas and you rock on the day of Sankrant.

1. Find the best thread in the market
2. Gather initial stuff required to make manja, e.g. tyre tube ( when burnt, used for heating), a sticky thing called shiras ( using which you apply powdered glass to the thread), Aloe-Vera ( you intend that your manja is smooth enough to cut other manjas) , powdered glass ( preferably of tube, and you don't buy it from stores, instead you break the tube-light and mill it down to turn in a smooth powder). A big iron tin ( in order to heat the shirash so that it acts as a glue)
3. Find a big ground and gather few of your expert friends, go to that place to prepare a manja.
4. Once that is done, bring new kites.
5. On the day of Sankrant, do not, I repeat, do not go to you home for whatever reasons, you are supposed to be on the field ( be it your terrace or ground) to enjoy the lovely world of kites. In my case, my mother comes to the terrace and I have my lunch there only.

This whole procedure takes a lot of time and needs lot of enthusiasm and interest. I could not find time to do this when I was in Pune during my Engineering and started buying Bareli manja, to spare myself from the above ritual.

Today is the first day in my life where I am not in my home town amidst my friends playing kites and that's why I feel devastated. I enjoyed Sankrant more than any other festivals including Diwali and today I am not present to catch the glimpses of a great festival. Believe me, I have never felt so bad about myself. I could not find time out of my office schedule for whatever reasons and hence could not go home. One of my friend Sanket, who is in Japan currently shares the same feeling. My job is the reason why I am not in Nagar today. I have never thought that this day will come when I need to adjust my priorities so early, I am just 24 years old and like every small child, have a right to enjoy this game. But my stringent and always demanding job does not allow me do it, I envy my friends who work for a small printing press, marketing firms, and some still doing their studies.

Aamir said it right... Tim Lak Lak De Tim Lak Lak.... :-(