Diwali, The festival of lights ! Yes, we all have a fantastic time during this 4 day festival . The fun is doubled when your entire family and friends get together to freak out on those "chakalee's", "karanjya's" , "Sankar-paaLyaa's" , "Laddoos" , and much much more . It becomes more interesting when the newly married couple are celebrating their "first" post marriage Diwali . By the time the visit to all the relatives is completed, they usually end up having a very bad stomach ..*chukle* ... in a way its fun , enjoyment to the fullest !

I had a fantastic time in "Aapli Dombivli" this diwali , even though the weather was not willing to cool down, the atmosphere was certainly upbeat . Heavy shopping for clothes, jewellery, gift articles, sweets ... could be seen till very late in the evenings. To mention the least , the traffic havaldars had a nightmare with the power cord pulled off from the "traffic lights" , what would have happenned at "char rasta" is any Dombivlikar's guess ^_^ .

Like always, the Phadke Road was the most crowded of all on the "Abhyang-Snanam" day . The police deployed, couldnt even walk in for almost 30 - 35 mins and special squads had to be called in to control the crowd at the entrance of the Ganesh Mandir . Dombivli is getting crowded , no doubt about that ! With fire-crackers going off on all sides, the beautifully and traditionally decked girls , and macho looking (not to forget apna tapori's kya ?) boys exchanging that very look at the corner of the eye and then smiling coyly , could be seen having the same fun that we used to have during our college days. This is what diwali is all about, having Fun !

Thats about Diwali in Dombivli, If we come to the "whats happenning in Dombivli" part ...

To be truthful and frank on the above part, whatever's happenning ain't happenning for the development of Dombivli . One could see all the family hotels and the bars been converted to either cabaret clubs or ladies bars , with little option on the good food that one could relish during the weekends . To name one of those, "Chandu ice-cream and Bhel puri centre" in the Baji Prabhu chowk has now been converted to an exquisite and exotic "Chandu Palace " , a la late night cabaret 'n' pub . The much awaited funds for the completion of the un-finished delayed Sports complex on the M.I.D.C ground has yet again been delayed due to the election mania in the state . Inspite of having built a super complex structure for "Sabzee-Walah" , the hawker menace has nearly trippled on the footpaths of Manpada Road, Phadke Road, Kelkar Road, D.N. Road and near the Fish Market .

Well, the good news is that new electronic exchanges on either side of the railway station have started functioning , and now Kalyan Telecom estimate that a new connection in the Kalyan-Dombivli area should not take more than 6 months . Even the Electricity in the town has improved with very rare occurances of power failure on fridays , which used to be the board's "maintenance" day. Now you can buy travel tickets from Dombivli irrespective of your Originating and Terminating point and also get your reservation at the newly errected "Computerised Reservation Office" to travel to your favourite spot anywhere in India , isn't that cool ?

I enjoyed travelling in the KDMC Bus , they are quite effecient, reasonable and neat. You can find them at the nearest bus stop in every 10 - 15 mins , plying all over the town , to nearby Khidkaleshwar, Diwa, Kalyan and Murbad. This service has really been welcomed by the people of Dombivli , and the poor (but naughty!) rickshaw-wallahs are sweating it out in the heat . A beautiful park has been built besides the GaavDevi Mandir oppositte to Pandurang Vidyalaya. At this very place , horses were trained for battle during the reign of the Peshwas .

Some Interesting facts about Dombivli ,

(*) First telephone exchange started at Ramwadi in 1957 - Rural xchange, TilakNagar exchange followed shortly in 1968 with 50 lines and rose to 200 lines in 1972.

(*) First post office was started in 1924 , oppositte Dr. Malati Pradhan's house, and Tilak Nagar Post Office was established in 1972 (hmm, 1972 a lucky year for Tilak Nagarites!!)

(*) Dombivli railyway station came into existence in 1887, Chola Power House was also started then and was manned by British and Japanesse people who stayed at "bara bungalows"

(*) Dombivli has the highest longevity in the country with the average life reaching 72 !

(*) Dombivli Gram Panchayat was formed in 1957, and in 40 years became a Corporation alongwith Kalyan.

(*) There are about 100 temples in Dombivli alone !

(*) First electric bulb was lit in the year 1945 - 1946

I leave now for you to ponder over the above ...

Till Later, its Buh_Bye from the desks of CuteCorner Chaps !