at August 15, 2005 9:15 AMPappu just stood there looking sadly at the rusted iron gates with a huge padlock on them. The place was deserted and dusty, but to him he could see it the way it was 12 years ago, when he and Munni had so much fun running around with postman uncle - sampling the sweets and wonders of the Mela. It seemed like just yesterday. The pain of the fact that he hasn’t seen Munni since that day had never gotten old to him. He blamed himself for making his sister miss school to go to the Mela and for not keeping an eye on her and letting her get away and melt into the crowd. Since then, he had made the yearly trip to the Mela grounds hoping to catch a sight of Munni, but in vain. The Mela kept losing people to more modern entertainment like multiplexes and malls. The grounds remained closed and the few reminders of the past glory were almost ruined to the ground.
Pappu sighed sadly and turned away. He knew in the heart of his hearts that Munni is gone is never coming back again. Just as he turned the corner, he heard some faint music that caught his attention just because it was so incongruous with the desolate setting. There was something faintly nostalgic about the melody, so Pappu walked quickly to the place it was emanating from - it was a tiny but colorful establishment announcing the the arrival of a traveling “intellectual carnival” - “Coming Soon…” it loudly proclaimed with various posters of soon-to-arrive attractions.
There was a poster with an imposing looking swami who was going to perform amazing feats of yoga.
There was the poster of two debaters who could debate any topic under the sun from any point-of-view possible.
There was a big poster of a famous novelist who loved controversial themes in his books and was famous for offending a lot of people - he would write on any topic his audience asked him about.
There was also to the side the picture of a buck-toothed baby, who was supposed to be the most intelligent baby in the world.
The last poster was about technology and the most advanced computing system in the world.
There was something about the different topics combined with the haunting melody being played in the background that stirred some vague memories in the back of Pappu’s mind - he could not put a finger on his feelings or what it was that bothered him so much about the display, but he knew for sure he was going to be there next week when the intellectual carnival opened, so he can further delve into this mystery.
Bharateeya Blog Mela can also be found at The Truth Laid Bear’s ÜberCarnival.
Posted by shanti at August 13, 2005 10:35 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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Great idea, carrying the Pappu and Munni theme forward!
I hope Nitai and your Mela will spark serialized theme based BlogMela’s. I have just started reading BBM’s few weeks ago, so I am not aware if this has been done before by BBM hosts, but it is a good idea! Adds more punch to the Mela.
http://www.blogmela.com/mela/2005/08/13/44/blogmela-themes-13aug2005/
Posted by: BlogMela.com at August 13, 2005 1:06 PM
:beam: A nice and bizarre filmi Mela based on Nitai’s Mela. Cool.
My theory for fewer entries this time is that bloggers were a bit overworked last week, and are taking a rest this time.
Keep up the good work, though.
Posted by: Aditya at August 13, 2005 1:32 PM
Hey, thanks for giving Pappu and Munni a new life!
BTW, is Postman Uncle still around? ;)
Posted by: Nitai at August 14, 2005 3:42 PM
Shanti,
Great job within the short time you had to get this thing together! Wonderful surprise with the Pappu and Munni theme. I’m looking forward to more!
Regards
Ram
Posted by: Ram at August 14, 2005 5:57 PM
Thanks, BlogMela.com and Aditya :)
Nitai, thanks for inspiring me on a day I hda zero energy for any original thinking :)
Ram - thanks!
Posted by: shanti at August 15, 2005 9:15 AM