There is a lot of talk about how Gergegan has changed. That it has gone commerical and back when we were kids it was real and pure and more innocent. Yet we are looking at this through our eyes and the experinces of our childhood and comparing it to now. But things change over time so we can’t compare apples and bananas.

To test how it has changed I asked my dad how his was compared to mine. He said that they used to get left overs pretty much for candy, or some nuts and stuff “You kids got spoiled, you got choclate”. You see even from his perspective Gergegan changed from his childhood to ours.

But the real joy of it has never changed. It is all about having the kids go enjoy themselves during Ramadan and spend time with their relatives and get to know the neighbors. Come on, what better way to know the kids names down the street?

So seeing my cousins dress up and running around and munching on candy reminded me of my childhood. Luckily they share the same feelings I have for it. For me it was one of the best times of the year. I got to run around the neighborhood with my cousins, singing and getting free candy. And it was special candy cause you could never buy at stores cause it came in wholesale bags and was pure sugar and food coloring. Then we’d get back home and share it, and trade the ones we wanted. Then eat all that til my stomach hurt. Then do it all over again the next day at a different neighborhood.

So I am going to wait and see when my cousins get older and have kids, and hear them complain how it has changed since they were kids. When it was more innocent and not as commerical as it is “now”. I’ll just smile and chuckle to this deja vu.