Mamachya Gavala Jaauya

You did not plan your vacations in those days, because you knew where you were headed -- and out came the statement “Mamachya Gavala Jaauya” (Lets head to our Mama’s / Maternal Uncle’s house). 

Year after year, the same place – but it was never boring.  The value system that we grew up with, the variety of activities that we had, the food that we savoured, the freedom like a parrot set out of a cage.  How we wish we could go back to those times, how we wish our youngsters particularly children get to experience all this.   

The thoughts running in your mind are If only money could buy everything….then I would like to buy my childhood days all over again?  How each one of us wants to Awaken the Child within.  That nostalgia of the vacations – summer or winter – the cool breeze, the hot sun, the play all day – catch catch, hide-n-seek, informal treks, playing chor police, kabaddi, Kho Kho, Lagori, aaba doobi, or, plucking flowers, eating Mangoes (raw and ripe),Kashews,Fanas (jack fruit),Kokam, Karvanda (berries), and other fruits.   Wish you could do all this, but know that such things are not possible in urban concrete jungles.

Spirit of reminiscence engulfs you as you can still remember those intricate locations while playing hide and seek or lagori or the bhajans in the temple that resonate in your ears even now, the folk dramas and street plays, the aarti that you would sing in praise of lord.  Sure you can sing it all over again.  Some traditional practices like lighting the Lamp as invocation to the gods and reciting “Shubham Karoti” (Evening prayers)and witnessing a life of self sufficiency and Interdependence.  

Closer home you were adept at drawing water from the well, helping out in cooking with firewood, and realizing that those rustic surroundings always liberated you from the current match-box urban environment.  You adapt better, feel more confident, and satisfied in an environment that is pollution free, and the purity seems to spread bliss inside you. You learnt so many new things all by rediscovering yourself in your native surroundings, in your Mamacha Gaav and that too without attending any workshop, lecture or event, but just experiencing it.   

Enjoyment all day, with the night stars as the chandelier, and the moon as your guiding light, stories by your grand parents of folk lore and traditions, lullabies and songs that enchanted you.   Grandmother and Grandfather knew the magic of providing you the right warmth.  A journey of experiential exploration – back to the roots – total freedom, enjoyment, and all fun-n-frolic. 

Pollution, Health Problems seem to be urban words or problems for the purity here is supreme and just waiting for you to come and explore the unexplored. 

Come mingle with our family – recreate your earlier days, and experience the hospitality and warmth that you found during your childhood days.  You can confidently say “Mamachya Gavala Jaauya”  Welcome to your abode that is full of tradition, values, culture, serenity, bliss, and a native home, away from the concrete jungles of urban life – a refreshing change that totally recharges you.