Diwali: Uli and other stories
Have a cracker of a Diwali people!
When I was a kid, I used to get up early morning, bathe, wear new clothes, and burst crackers. Mom would make my fav sweet Athirasam (among a host of other sweets).
Crackers remind me of what my younger brother Suren used to do as a kid during Diwali. He discovered this amazing 'Slam-Bang' tool called 'Uli' (Telugu word). I guess he got it from one of the Ironsmith's sons who lived in Kolimi Street.
An Uli is contraption made of a small iron block with a hole on its head, a thick Iron nail, and a rope that connected both. What Suren used to do is roam around the streets of the neighborhood in Greamspet, Chittoor; collect all discarded crackers (those that never blew up) and extract the ammo-powder. Then, he would fill the Uli block with the powder, insert the nail, hold the rope, swing it and ram it against a wall. Boom! The effect of a Lakshmi out at no cost at all! Most important: it was very safe. As kids, we (Suren and I) were more than happy watching others burst crackers. We loved money too much to blow it up on crackers. Suren had this great business plan of mass-producing Uli and selling it to people who had no money for crackers. It never took off, anyway, like his plan to have a monkey for a pet (oh, that's another story. I'll save it for later.)
Some times we used to go to Chennai, to my grand ma's, for Diwali. My uncle from Kerala would bring crackers made from Palm leaves (Olai vedi); we used to carry bundles of 'Chittoor Out' (the best cracker in the whole world. The pride of Chittoor). And we used to make the landlord's (who owned the tenement where my grand ma stayed in one of the ten houses) life miserable by bursting crackers from dawn to dusk.
After we moved to Chennai in the early 90s, I got to experience the big city festival-experience. Most hated it. I liked it in a weird way. The cracker smoke creates a cover of thick smog over Chennai every Diwali. At the end of the second day of the festival, when the steady woof-woof of crackers gave away to a calm of discontent, I used to walk from SIET signal to Gemini. I loved it, for that's the only time Chennai resembled a hill-station town; misty, eerie, you know? And if you ever have experienced the Sun of Chennai, you'll realize what it means to me.
So, if you are anywhere close to Chittoor, please go there and get yourself some Chittoor Out. It rocks dude. If you want to give your cracker-maniacal neighbors some inferiority complex, buy a few bundles of Chittoor Out and have a go at it.
Diwali, or any festival for that matter, held a lot of excitement for us when we were kids; the idea of not having to attend school, the gaiety and pomp, sweets, new clothes, and most important, hanging out with cousins made it delightful. Now, all festivals appear the same. A wave of nostalgia would sweep over, just for a fleeting moment, and then I shrug it away, and get on with life. Most of us make that mistake. As THE scientist said, 'You can live life as if nothing is a miracle. Or live it as if every thing is.' So, go on make this Diwali special. Have a safe, cracker of a Diwali folks! Add to:del.icio.us| Digg| Reddit| StumbleUpon| Technorati
When I was a kid, I used to get up early morning, bathe, wear new clothes, and burst crackers. Mom would make my fav sweet Athirasam (among a host of other sweets).
Crackers remind me of what my younger brother Suren used to do as a kid during Diwali. He discovered this amazing 'Slam-Bang' tool called 'Uli' (Telugu word). I guess he got it from one of the Ironsmith's sons who lived in Kolimi Street.
An Uli is contraption made of a small iron block with a hole on its head, a thick Iron nail, and a rope that connected both. What Suren used to do is roam around the streets of the neighborhood in Greamspet, Chittoor; collect all discarded crackers (those that never blew up) and extract the ammo-powder. Then, he would fill the Uli block with the powder, insert the nail, hold the rope, swing it and ram it against a wall. Boom! The effect of a Lakshmi out at no cost at all! Most important: it was very safe. As kids, we (Suren and I) were more than happy watching others burst crackers. We loved money too much to blow it up on crackers. Suren had this great business plan of mass-producing Uli and selling it to people who had no money for crackers. It never took off, anyway, like his plan to have a monkey for a pet (oh, that's another story. I'll save it for later.)
Some times we used to go to Chennai, to my grand ma's, for Diwali. My uncle from Kerala would bring crackers made from Palm leaves (Olai vedi); we used to carry bundles of 'Chittoor Out' (the best cracker in the whole world. The pride of Chittoor). And we used to make the landlord's (who owned the tenement where my grand ma stayed in one of the ten houses) life miserable by bursting crackers from dawn to dusk.
After we moved to Chennai in the early 90s, I got to experience the big city festival-experience. Most hated it. I liked it in a weird way. The cracker smoke creates a cover of thick smog over Chennai every Diwali. At the end of the second day of the festival, when the steady woof-woof of crackers gave away to a calm of discontent, I used to walk from SIET signal to Gemini. I loved it, for that's the only time Chennai resembled a hill-station town; misty, eerie, you know? And if you ever have experienced the Sun of Chennai, you'll realize what it means to me.
So, if you are anywhere close to Chittoor, please go there and get yourself some Chittoor Out. It rocks dude. If you want to give your cracker-maniacal neighbors some inferiority complex, buy a few bundles of Chittoor Out and have a go at it.
Diwali, or any festival for that matter, held a lot of excitement for us when we were kids; the idea of not having to attend school, the gaiety and pomp, sweets, new clothes, and most important, hanging out with cousins made it delightful. Now, all festivals appear the same. A wave of nostalgia would sweep over, just for a fleeting moment, and then I shrug it away, and get on with life. Most of us make that mistake. As THE scientist said, 'You can live life as if nothing is a miracle. Or live it as if every thing is.' So, go on make this Diwali special. Have a safe, cracker of a Diwali folks! Add to:del.icio.us| Digg| Reddit| StumbleUpon| Technorati
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