Sunday, February 17, 2008 (New Delhi)

The next time you drive past Pragati Maidan, there will be an important thing missing - Appu Ghar. For some, it is nothing more than a strange looking amusement park with rides that may seem right out of a bad horror flick.After Sunday, there will be another very large hole in the city, as Appu Ghar shuts down forever after a Supreme Court ruling. Since the country's first amusement park's land lease expired, it will be the place for Supreme Court chambers and a library. And for some, the end of Appu Ghar is like the end of an era, childhood memoirs, closed for good. Memories of Appu GharFor the 80s child, it is a memoir from a time when amusement parks didn't exist except for the people lucky enough to have been abroad to tell exotic tales of roller coaster rides in Disney Park.Then in 1984, came the first ever amusement park with our very own roller coaster. It was a very big deal. ''I'm here on my last ride, as my son wanted me to come,'' said a woman, who came to say good-bye to Appu Ghar.''I came here as a kid from school and then we were asked to write an essay - my trip to appu ghar,'' a visitor shared the memory trail.''I wasn't in Delhi earlier so I used to watch Appu Ghar on Doordarshan and wonder what it was all about. Then I got married and came here and now it's winding up, said another visitor.The Chairman of Appu Ghar, Gian Vijeshwar, who set this up came back from Sweden giving up an export business. And now, he said there might be a new avatar in Jaipur. But that will be all swish and new. My Fair Lady with her flourescent dress, Bhoot Bangla, bumper cars or the Columbus may not find a place there. These rides may just be fading memorials of the 80s in a city that is in a tearing hurry.