Scary Fair!

It’s the last day of October. As evening settles, the wind gets feverishly chilly. After you finish readying everything, you sit down to relax in front of the TV. The doorbell rings and you wonder who it could be at such an hour. You creep up to the door reluctantly. You can hear noises from the other side. There is more than one. As you open the door, they burst upon you chanting their mantra, “Trick or treat!!!”

Your heart goes all gooey as you check out the miniature Vampire, a fake muscled Batman, a little princess and a cute witch. You dole out the candies to them greeting “Happy Halloween!” They thank you in a hurry and run off to the next door. 

 

This is the first time that I experienced Halloween, and it was fun. The shops started putting up Halloween goodies from mid-September. By the time October started, the malls were choked with Jack-o-lanterns, giant spiders, scorpions, witches and ghouls and lots of other creepier decorations. They even set up a fire station, where kids could go and put on a fireman hat and jacket and then ride the fire engine around the mall. Of course, we parents just paid up for the fun.

 

My son’s birthday too falls in October, so he got to be Captain America on his birthday party. He also had a Halloween party in his school, where he dressed up as Eeyore the donkey from Winnie the Pooh. I didn’t get to attend that party but he told me they had dancing and good food. We attended another party where I was invited too. They had clowns, a puppet show, candy, ice cream and free gifts. And it was quite an experience to enter a room full of little costume clad people. I remember a Donald Duck, a nun, a monkey, quite a few Minnie Mouses and an infant shark too who spent most of the time sleeping in his father’s lap. 

I admired this celebration of the dead, but I missed India so much. October 2^nd came and I was wondering which Gandhi movie they were playing on Zee TV and B4U. Then the countdown for Durga Puja began – shashthi, saptami, ashtami and navami. In India, this would have meant four sarees for me. We did have a Durga Puja celebration here and we tried our best to make it authentic but I missed the pandal, the larger than life idols, the dhunuchi naach, and the people. 

Then Dushehra came. I missed the burning of a fire-works packed Raavan and the racquet that ensued. And then I missed the pitha on Kati bihu. And then came Diwali. I had no diyas to light, no crackers to burst and no mithai to eat! Boy, what a month! One should never be out of India in October. 

 

But you know what? I see the colours change in the mall here in Medellin already. Gone are orange and black. Welcome green, red and white. Christmas is coming! And I can’t wait to see how Medellin does it. Happy Halloween then!

Vampires, witches and corpse bride

And all other people from the other side

Celebrating creatures that have never been

Wish you a Happy Halloween!