The Hindu : New Delhi News : Delhi says goodbye to Appu Ghar

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Monday, Feb 18, 2008
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Delhi says goodbye to Appu Ghar

Staff Reporter

Photo Anu Pushkarna

Visitors throng Appu Ghar on the last day in New Delhi on Sunday .

NEW DELHI: Figuring prominently in the pleasanter memories of an entire generation, the much-loved Appu Ghar threw its gates open one last time for hordes of Delhiites on Sunday.

A sizeable weekend holiday crowd made its way to the amusement park to immortalise the venue in their memories before it is handed over to the Supreme Court and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. While some busied themselves in clicking pictures, for others it was an occasion to acquaint their children with the place they frequented in the times gone by. The city’s love affair with the landmark could be gauged by the rush of visitors on Sunday evening as the main gate was chock-a-block with cars and long queues could be seen at the ticket counters waiting for one last ride.

In view of the large crowd, the management extended the ticket counter timings till 6-30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. and the park timing itself was extended from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

According to Ravinder Singh, who has been working at Appu Ghar’s ticket counter for the past 23 years, over 5,000 tickets were sold on Sunday as against about 1,500 tickets on normal days.

Nostalgia reigned high for several of Appu Ghar’s past and present employees including travel and tour operator Sushil Khare. “I met my wife for the first time in Appu Ghar where I worked from 1984 to 1998. Today many employees who belonged to my batch came together with their spouses to reminisce about the days gone by,” said Mr. Khare. “Among the many things I remember about the place is the shooting of the Hindi film ‘Chandni’ here in the 1980s when I got a chance to interact with Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi.”

Meanwhile, for many visitors such as Anju Tyagi Sunday was the last chance to visit Appu Ghar with her children and family. “After I came to know that Appu Ghar is closing down, I felt very sad and decided to bring my children here so that they could enjoy the charms of the place for one last time. ”

As for the 250-odd employees who would be displaced with the closing down of the amusement park, it was an emotional farewell as well. Pawan Anand of Anand Caterers said: “I have been running this fast food kiosk at Appu Ghar for the past 23 years. The place has seen many ups and downs since then with patrons declining substantially since 1998 when ticket prices were hiked and made inclusive for all rides. However, today being the last day we did business worth about Rs.50,000 though on other days it is only around Rs.2,000.”

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