There is an unmistakable energy in the air. You wonder where it emanates from. You look hard. And discover that he operates his contraption with a practiced hand. Throwing in that odd spoon of sugar and ratcheting up some noise with a small piece of cane.
You try to stare into his face. And see whats behind that monochromatic stare into his pink produce. You cant decipher much.
You stand there, and simply stare into that contraption. There are furious swirls that are on. And in some time, you see a gathering sponge of pink cotton.
There is some thing unique here. You think. As your heart begins to beat faster and the saliva props in your mouth from nowhere. Enough to make Pavlov beam in his grave. Ditto for his dog.
The gathering swirls seem to pluck more of the pink cotton from nowhere. The swirls seem to have rung a magic in colour. You watch the small piece of cane disappear behind a cloud of pink cotton candy.
The pink in the air makes you think. Of pinks slips. The lay offs. The worsening economy. You wonder where it will lead the world to. Strips of bad habits that the world picked up gathered up as a huge ball of pink.
By now, the saliva in your mouth makes its presence felt. The thoughts of the economy or the recession disappear like share prices on wall street. Its now ready. Your pink cloud of sugar candy. He thrusts it in your face. Not even looking at you. And moves on to the next customer.
Your heart continues to beat fast. You tell yourself.
The price of cotton candy : Rs. 20. The calories which you would add : a 100 ! The worry on hygiene and such other factors : Rs.400/- for consultation and an equal sum on medicine.
The look of amusement on the faces of children, as you lick away the last strand of cotton candy and nudges from the missus, urging you to behave….. is large scale capital erosion !
But the memories that come rushing back to you from an earlier time. When you ran about in grey knickers, and treated 25 paise as a heavenly sum, and thought of cricket and cotton candy as proof that God existed…. Priceless !
That unmistakable energy permeates. You no longer wonder where it comes from !
cotton candy memories…as old as memories of friendship 🙂
how are you sir?
Kavi,
You know , when i was a child, like 53 years ago, this was really frowned upon, and we didnt have paise, only annas and pice (4 paise = 1 anna, 16 annas = 1 re). I always wondered how it tasted. And i just realized, that some blog posts , like this one are way up there in the glycemic index table….
(I didnt know you went for the exhibition in hiranandani …..:-))
aaaaaaaaa!!!! cotton candy!!!! man i love Cotton Candy!!!
we used to call it “buddhi na vaal” (literally: old lady’s hair) as kids and the sound of the bicycle bell going ‘tring tring’ was enough to have us all kids scurrying from wherever that we were to our granny for money to go buy cotton candy.
mouth watering & soul satisfying sweet memories! *sigh* now i want Cotton Candy! right now!
they sell cotton candy here in the US in fairs, disneyland, etc.
but it has a chemical smell to it. you know the smell you get in some old poppins rolls on some specific colors ?(you should write a post on poppins btw.. I could not find Poppins anywhere!)
great pictures Kavi.
my mouth is watering right now after seeing the last picture.
🙂
aaaahh! I enjoyed this post. It is hard for me to pass up cotton candy at a fair. You’ve described that high perfectly.
I just got some cotton candy for the kids last weekend, this man walking along the streets (it was sunny then) with pinks and blues and Rustom just couldn’t resist…
Triggered a deluge of memories of ‘spring’ fairs- dunno why we called them that (but I’ve to add that I never had those then (promise!) my dad is very hygiene- conscious:( I know, sob sob).
Very literary too, this post! Very high in calories, just like the candy:)
my goodness!! Rs 20 for a stick of cc nowadays?!! Wow!
Hey, I would NEVER commit the sacrilege of having such gloomy thoughts of pink slips which watching that ethereal mass take shape before my eyes!
We all have kid within ourselves.
It’s an awe mystery still where the cotton comes from, and as usual it carries everyone’s memories. These days we couldn’t get cotton candies so spiciest like before in this picture, it’s been years I had tasted the cotton candies and I hate those packed today. This post melts down the heat!
sorry, a small mistake. the comment by Aravind is mine.
Yaar…who’s bothered about the calories…Amidst the KIT KATs and the DAIRY MILKs and the CRUNCHs and the MUNCHs…this one really managed to stay on…Though we dont find it quite frequently on the streets…Today’s kids are missing the fun!!!
AH, Kavi, you are some sort of genius, I think, to tie in the economy with cotton candy and do it so well Nebulous, fluffy concepts and reasonings that look right and yet leave one with the impression that something of substance should’ve been done but wasn’t.
Pearl
p.s. The last photo, of the man handing you the cotton candy, actually made me a bit sad. As a person who makes eye contact, I always feel sad for those who don’t, wondering why they’re unable to show you their eyes…
Kavi, did you stand there taking pictures every five minutes? What did the cotton candy man think? 🙂
Great post! Made me remember fairs I went to sometimes, as a child.
I havent had cotton candy in many years, but it sure is tempting.
Couldn’t help noticing how the candy guy seems to be shying away from the camera in the last picture. Not very photogenic, i guess.
took me back to elementary school days!
ashok
I think he was too busy looking to make the next one to care about posing! That’s also a sign about the economy…’time is money’!!!
great stuff (both the post and the candy)…gossamer, will-o-the-wisp, gone-with-the-wind…
liked your blah-blah channel, too, or should that be caw-caw channel?
Cotton Candy for Rs 20. Damn I am seriously old.
But I was always amazed by the way they made it.
Great!! Everything true example of making big from small but with constant efforts!!
I used to LOVE cotton candy, still do. Infact whenever I go to a holiday-type spot I HAVE To pick up my own. the fun part is seeing it beign made.
There is a izikaya in East Village, NY where once you are done they offer you a small plastic cup filled with colored sugar to make your own cotton candy for free, how fun is that? 🙂 I loved it.
GP : I am doing fine. How is SF treating you ? Stay connected ! Ofcourse, memories of friendship !
Ugich Konitari : Glycomic index ! Well, well, i wonder if thats good or otherwise !?!
Yes. General exhibitions are a matter of interest. Especially for the candy !
🙂
Nachi : Old lady’s hair ! That was something to note ! Indeed something !
Did you get the candy ?
Sundar : Over here there is only a different smell ! The smell of memories and a different free spirit !
Christine : I just cant miss cotton candy ! I am glad i have company
Naperville Mom: Very high in calorific values !! Now, with me off rice…thats not a great sign !
🙂
Roshini : Rs. 20/- Yes ! Thats how i went too ! I havent paid more than Rs.5/- ! I guess our realities differ when the ethreal mass emerges !! And so the mind maps out different things !
Hobo : yes..all of us have the kid within !
Jeevan : yes ! Teh cotton candy holds a whole lot of memories that dont melt away easily !
viji monu : Welcome here ! yes. in the packaged world of children, some airy stuff like sugar candy gets sorely missed
Pearl :
🙂 Ah. The eyes. You know they convey too many stories. And when they dont blog…perhaps too much rests within them !!
Manju : I am not sure. I just kept clicking. In any case, he wasnt looking at me ! so, i guess he didnt see me clicking !!
Amreekandesi : hey..reconnect with sugar candy. And reconnect with who you were when you were young..
(psst : thats the ruse that i give myself to add one more bite )
Ashok : Ofcourse. Elementary school days were elementary. Sugar candy. 25 paise. cricket !
Roshini : yes..time is money. And this is Mumbai ! And time is money with high voltage !
🙂
Ankit : yes buddy. It costs as much. In the multiplexes it costs three times as much.
Swatantra : I love your analogy !
SSQuo : really !?! Hmm izikaya is a place on my travel agenda now !!!
🙂
Real nice – now this is making me miss the indian street food again.
Kavi – you sure have an optional career waiting for you if and when you decide to go beyond what you’re currently doing.
It works on the principle of centripetal force if my science is still good. Enjoyed your connections, once again.