My maternal grandparents and paternal grandparents lived there. Most of my summer and winter vacations were spent there as a child. I always looked forward to visit Ghaziabad from Porbandar where we stayed.
My paternal grandfather’s house was a palatial double storey mansion with lots of space inside and outside the house. Ours was a big family and when father and his brothers-sisters with their families would visit on vacations there would be around 40 members or so. There was a constant chattering, shouting, laughing eating going on at any given time. There was a garden in front of that house and outside it was a kind of silence ,peaceful, green area excepting the noise that would come from within our house. As children we would frequentely walk down to nearby market for sweets and on sundays would walk down to any of the two theatres which showed any good english movie.
My maternal grandfather stayed in older part of the town in narrow bylanes. A car would face difficulty in going thru, specially at turns. The houses were old, thick walled, high ceilings, cosy, compact and cool in summers. Municipal garden was nearby and after dinners my grandfather would take us there. Nights we used to sleep on terrace. Before that in evenings water used to be sprinkled on terrace to take off the heat. It used to be fun watching stars before falling asleep. The narrow bylanes had a life of their own -children playing, ladies sitting and chatting, men walking and discussing- all happened in the narrow alleys and lanes. Hawkers would come and we would be excited and run to see what was in for us.
Times passed, we grew, grand parents were no more, now there was no one there and one by one properties were sold.
years later I went to Ghaziabad for some business work and had some spare time. I chose to visit the places, lanes and roads where i had spent my childhood.
There was development all around. There were modern looking high rise apartments built and in their midst our once grand old double storied mansion looked small, out of date and not well kept by new owner. The garden in front had become smaller. There were some shops on its perimeter. The trees and greenery were replaced by wide roads, footpaths etc. The two theatres had closed and one of them was being demolished.
On the other side, the old part looked more of a ghetto. There was a mix of old and new structures cropping up wherever there was a space. The new city had grown all around this old part and old part looks much older now. It was not clean either, with narrow open drains, sewage spiiling out at places, roads broken for cables and pipelines. It was not a good sight.
Ghaziabad itself has transformed from a sleepy old suburb of Delhi to a city with identity of its own. It has also become one of the most polluted cities in the world.
That day I realised that if I do not come to Ghaziabad again, my childhood images will be preserved and I will cherish memories forever. And I decided to keep those memories intact.
Hello Sanjay, this story is beautifully told! I can relate. My hometown is also being taken over by rich tech people. And, just like you said, the places I used to live are run down and sad, while other places I loved have been paved over and rebuilt into something else. All that new growth is not helping the people who can’t afford things. I still go visit family and friends but it’s definitely not the same! Cheers and have a good day 🙂
Thanks Bex for such a wonderful comment and response. I think many people in the age bracket 50-60 years may have same experience
Very well expressed. Brought back my childhood memories.
Glad you liked it
Childhood memories r always in our heart, I got very emotional to read yr memories.. very well expressed yr feelings .. God bless .