firstborn developed golu-fatigue after the first four bommai golus, we attended.
the twinkle returned in his eye only if there was a ‘cricket set’ in the proceedings…
else he had a certain faraway look, a generalised ennui, that no amount of sundal, and chota bheem stickers in the golu goody bag could wipe away.
as for moi,
the top four things that didn’t work for me this navarathri…
1. golu padis. EVERYONE has this store bought shelf and converted it into a golu-padi; the uniformity here in Chennai was frightening.
in the interest of novelty, one should make steps. one year you do steps, next year you don’t. one year you try asymmetry. I sobbed with joy when I saw a golu on a dining table… ,
no wonder firstborn was yawning his way through the proceedings .
2. plastic flowers: Chennai gets so much fresh flowers and people make do with plastic. pfui.
3. ctrl c + 2012 = totally annoying. mix em up maami. same same, is so last year.
4. blinking tiny lights. again. the psychedelic effect of the golu gave me a headache. maami, may I visit during the day when the lights aren’t on?
and
here are photos of what I loved…
a sewing machine, loved the yesteryear feel
we could never find four for carom. two was max. maybe three. but 4? I wonder which team won
awesome that there was mighty Vivekananda towering over Gandhi and others. thumbs up for Vedanta
and this pic is here in deference to firstborn who stops to stare in a lovestruck manner… he
loved this beauty
because marriages never go out of fashion
handmade. I like. underneath the mountain is an overturned empty tin, and 5 kgs of sand lugged from the road, and a sore back from all that building….
mountain, I bow to thee
and here’s a cute song doing the rounds…
Twopointthree kids, sixpointsix ideas on raising them 
Love the photos. But then, I’m a sucker for golu.
golu is fun:-)
Am guilty of all the four points! 😦 Love the kalyana set and the cute song!
hey!! S n S! this is armchair golu-criticism; writing with immense confidence because I don’t have my own golu…
if I have my own golu, I have a right to revise all of the above. heh heh
I did what you said for the first 3 years – made padi from cardboard boxes, different ones each year, but when there’s the danger of the golu toppling the minute more than 2 people walk close to it, the store padi seems like a Godsend.
I love the carom board, the cricket set and the Radha- Krishna. I wish I had a bigger padi and that lugging golu bommais all the way here was not such a “weighty issue”. I would go all out *Sigh*
Btw where’s your golu and did FB sing at the golus he visited?
hey CPG! have to still get used to calling you that..
no golu, . have persuaded mmmim that we are not ready for that baby yet…
and FB just yawned so wide, that it was impolite.
I love how your golu has grown CPG
and no golu chezmoi — cldnt you tell at how easily I am throwing stones, no glass house, that’s why.
and fb yawned tres rood. that’s what he did.
Ah! loved those pics..
Every year Golu with be the crazy time in the family, with Appa trying to make the padis with all possible things, including the tin dabbas which Amma used to store the bakshanams..what fights man what fights..I could do a post :):)
rofl@appa
lol@your appa
Having grown up with makeshift padis, I always wanted symmetry so rejoice in my storebought padis. And mine is wide: 10′ or so 🙂
Christmas lights are my pet peeve too – I associate them with Christmas trees not golu 🙂 But have decided that’s a personal quirk!
Actually my worst gripe – there are other sundals than Konda Kadalai! SO tired of konda kadalai sundal!
OMG! any pix for me… 10 is huge!!
lol@konda kadalai fatigue…
Dhaatu in Bangalore – AWESOME golu. Full fifty scenes. I narrated a sanitised version of the entire Ramayana there to my little one. With ‘Krishna nee begaane’ playing in the background.
Sigh, I went to exactly one golu this year here, was invited for another but could not make it. Cannot even remember how many in uru last year. Sigh.
o chox — I remember that feeling too — when I was in KL… only in the first year… then things settled down, fantastic
May I ask, what is golu?
I almost thought this was a spam comment… this is a golu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golu
Agree with all points. One’s creativity comes out when the steps are built from thattu muttu saaman. Bricks, buckets and old books go under our steps.
Lovely song 🙂
🙂
Plastic flowers? In Chennai? Now I am shocked!
home of malli poo, no?