Metamorphosis of Mominpura

NAGPUR: Like playful colts intoxicated on the rush of freedom, the three boys swaggered about on the bustling market road. Mock-fighting, jostling, chattering, they were unrestrained and irrepressible. Until, that is, one of them had a shade of self-doubt.
"Let's make it quick. It's quite late," he blasphemed. Without so much as glancing back, the leader of the pack chimed with finality, "Hey, don't worry.We're at Mominpura!" It was this joyful abandon that soaked Mominpura's Mohammed Ali Road on Monday's rainless evening. It was the 26th night of Ramzan, a night to be spent in prayers and piety. But the evening seemed reserved to pay homage to the retail gods.
After all, it's not often that you see an endless line of handcarts parked remorselessly in the middle of the busy road. But there they were, selling everything from garish chappals to expertly embroidered skullcaps, from cute stuffed toys to strictly-utilitarian plastic utensils.
It was the pedestrians who squeezed past each other on whatever remained of the road. Taj Iqbal stood in the ready-made garment store he manages and watched the peppy procession pass by with a knowing pride. "I've been watching the Ramzan revelry since my childhood and it never fails to fill me with joy. Sure, it used to be a lot less crowded when I was young, but the enthusiasm was just as infectious as it is today." But something that has not remained unchanged is the taste of the customers.