Disneyland in Gaya

Gaya, a city located on the bank of river Falgu in Bihar is about 150km away from UP border(East), and famous for a couple of reasons mostly religious one besides the famous tourists’ attraction site- Bodhgaya, which is situated approx 12-14kms from main Gaya city. The city has developed a lot in course of time to entertain the needs of the residents. The city is equipped with a couple of malls( not very gradiloquent), showrooms of almost everything including bikes to jewellery, sweets( one of the reason city is famous for) and several shops running on large as well as small-scale to meet the needs of people from time to time.

Disneyland is a typical fair which monopolizes a place within the city during holidays. Its a centre of great fun and adventure when your daily routines aren’t enough to appease you. Unlike big cities, this city has limited number of swings mostly small and fair is also set up in not a very large area which is in a way a contrast to the name given i.e Disneyland. This is because to make it affordable to attract a large number of people from every class. I have visited this type of fair earlier also but this time my sole purpose was to create an everlasting impression on me as well as my friends. So here starts the journey to ‘Disney land’18’

My visit to this fair started with parking my vehicle in the parking lot and getting tickets for entry which costs 10/- each. The gate was indeed nicely decorated harnessing completely the electrical energy available. One can notice the use of religious figures in form of women, which they often do as it is considered a good omen.

• Jhoolas

These are the pics of some major ‘jhoolas’ available there. Once or twice I have enjoyed all of them except the 1st one which I dreaded badly due to two reasons. the 1st one is I don’t trust its infrastructure and 2nd I don’t trust myself.

Moving a bit forward I came across a sight which stirred within me ‘A nostalgia”

This Swing is the result of manual labour. I can’t get the sense of writing ‘Karina’ to attract those meek children. The concentration of child to ‘Steering’ can be noted from the distance. it seems that in few minutes he wants to learn all the techniques of handling a car.

I don’t remember whether this was available in my days, maybe thoughts have become obscure, I wished to go there now to play with children, climb and struggle, tumble and roll with them but Official said that I am too old for that now. I am not fit to enter the world of cartoons and this is one of the few incidents where I miss my childhood. Growing up is necessary no??

This one is really ferocious. It rolls 360 degrees on its axis along with up and down movement. it takes me to ‘LAPUTA‘ or ‘THE FLYING ISLAND‘, the 3rd part of Gulliver’s journey.

• The Shopping Centre

Since a significant number of people use to visit the fair, it has become a centre of the small business complex with various stalls set up aligning the boundary of place. several alluring and decorative items were enhancing the beauty of the place to four-fold.

So these cartoons are made from Hard-plastic and named as ‘HIT ME‘. The idea is it contains mass at the bottom in the extreme centre so it remains in standing position always. A gentle push of your will shake this creature but it will come to its original state after swinging like a pendulum for a while. There is an open challenge for you guys!

“TRY TO BE ANGRY WHILE LOOKING AT HIT-ME”. I bet you can’t!!

This has now become an obsolete show as it is in tradition since time immemorial. The crowd to this stall was also meagre. The idea is you have to shoot the balloons with the guns, the idea is not a sophisticated one as I feel that even you miss your shot it will burst some other balloon because they are kept in close unison. On enquiring, the cost was Rs. 20 for 6 shots.

These are some well-known shopping items which are always on the top of your shopping lists.

Here you can shop to decorate your walls and can buy rings for the key to unlock your door to happiness!

Jewellery at 150/-. Are you crazy?? Haha no no ..these are imitations or role-gold. Most of the shops in the fair are of fixed rate i.e Rs40/- sale, Rs 250/- sale like that. It has become immensely popular nowadays due to progressive trend in fashion.

• FOODS

Wherever you go, foods always occupies the centre of your heart. A fair is only rated good if it is able to provide you good refreshment after hectic and exhausting, endless wandering in every corner of the place.

Though the city has some good restaurants and cafes, still they can’t outshine the gathering near street food and stalls at evening. Disney land is the place where one can get these street foods under one roof (though there was ther absence of the roof, just kidding). most of the food which I came across there is common to most of the parts of the country. however, the most flummoxing part was the unavailability of ‘litti chokha’ which is considered as the ‘Shaan of Bihar‘. Can it be deduced as the deterioration in the interest of people toward this indigenous food or the poor ‘litti chokha‘ is facing stiff competition from the Chinese foodstuffs. let’s have a look!!

Momos, Shikanji, Golgappe and tikki chat are the most common street food you’ll come across in this city. if I am not wrong, these are the foods which can be seen being served in most states of India.

The Pavbhaji wala

“Bhaiya, ye photo kis news channel pe aayega”, Pavbhaji wala asked (while giving the pose) me when I was adjusting my Nikkon D3000 lens toward him.

Bhaiya, we aren’t ‘press reporter’ (as he preconceived after seeing the DSLR bag running at a length from my soldier), my friend and I replied gently with smiling face.

But I think I can still give him a place in my blog, I thought. Albeit, Pavbhaji is also celebrated as food at many places, the sole purpose to create a separate section for them is to highlight their strong desire to be seen on TV and why can’t. Afterall they work day in and day out and are hardly recognised. Later one friend suggested a name for it in English i.e Candyfloss.

Ever tried softy? I think most of us have. It’s lifeline in summer. By the way, I am still unsure about the tagline ‘Bombay to Goa‘. Do you have any idea? reply here in the comment box.

I don’t know its name in English but in regional language, we use to call it ‘Hawa mithaii’. This is one of the interesting food stuff I have known until childhood. it is highly sensitive to air. if you expose it in the air, after few moments it will disappear mysteriously. the girl beside is trying hard to preserve it for a longer time by wrapping it many folds. wish her Good Luck!! Later one friend suggested a name for it in English i.e ‘Candyfloss’

‘Bhelpuri‘, I hope the term is not new for you. It is consumed in many parts of Bihar ( not sure about other states) as a part of the evening snacks either in mixed form or individually.

Hence, the purpose to visit Disney land is now fully accomplished with this blog and I am happy that I have illustrated one aspect of my hometown. Planning to do more, stay tuned!

Here is your photographer and blogger { Me (Shashank), at the left} and to the right, my friend Suman Saurav, looking for a perfect partner( actually kidding, I made him stand beside that beautiful portrait, while I clicked the pic), who patiently let me click the pics and instructed me time to time.

On the way back, we faced some traffic but who mind such trivial thing after such a wonderful evening.

It’s time to say goodbye now. will be back shortly with another blog covering another aspect!!

Thank you!

– Shashank