A walk down the memory lane - episode 2

When I see balloons, I go all childish. Even my friend comments me about my obsession with balloons. At the age of getting excited with new gadgets and latest fashion trends, I get excited by the sight of those lovely and colorful balloons. It is because those balloons touch a soft corner of my heart. They hold a special part of my life which is totally related to my childhood. It was my sister who, with HER obsession with balloons, instilled this feeling in me for those playful items. Balloons remind me of Dashain. As strange as it may seem, balloons were an integral part of our Dashain celebration. None of our Dashains were complete without balloons until my sister left the country. Ghatasthapana was the start of Dashain and balloons. The money we received from the ladies (mother, aunt and grandmother) of our house was all spent on the balloons of different color and structure. We were not allowed to keep money to ourselves and it was kind of a compulsion for us to buy a balloon with it. It was more like a tradition than compulsion and we wholeheartedly spent all those money on the colorful balloons. Even our parents were amazed at how many balloons we had at our home. There was this room, which was supposed to be filled with balloons by the end of the tenth day of Dashain. Round balloon, apple shaped balloon, heart shaped balloon, helium filled balloon, long stick like balloon, you name it and you would have found it in our room. It was like a balloon shop in itself. We were not to touch the balloon until the very last day. Whichever new shape/style balloon appeared on the mela was to be bought. It was the GOLDEN RULE. We were to buy the balloons of all styles, shapes, designs and possibly, all colors. All this was for one thing and only one: To take pictures with the balloons. As silly as it may sound, we actually did it and we did it every year for more than five years. It was an experience which I would like to relive. It might seem like craziness or even waste of money but it was a tradition which sadly, like many others, died along with time. There isn’t any room dedicated to balloons in our home anymore and neither do we buy balloons, except when it’s our kid sisters’ birthday or their demand. However, whenever I see a balloon, it becomes quite hard for me to resist the temptation of buying it and many times, I have ended up buying a balloon just for the sake of old times.