It is 5.30 p.m. on a weekday evening, and business is just beginning on Marina beach in Chennai. Merry-go-rounds are lighting up, the smell of fried food begins to permeate the air, and ponies prance about, led by their minders.
N. Anand’s day, though, began hours ago: after finishing his day job, beginning at 7 a.m., as a supervisor at an office on Anna Salai, he arrived at the beach sometime between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to set up his balloon shooting stall.
It is a familiar, colourful sight, and for Chennaiites in particular, a pastime that practically everyone has indulged in, spanning generations: a leisurely game of some skill and some luck, a bubble of pleasure when the balloon goes pop.
“The stall belongs to my sister’s husband, but I’ve been running it for the past 15 years or so. There isn’t any business in the morning, so I set up in the late afternoon after my morning job. At about 5 p.m., visitors begin to arrive. I wind up at around 9 p.m. or a little later. On weekdays, there isn’t much of a crowd, but during weekends, it’s better. The best time is during government holidays, when huge numbers throng the beach,” Mr. Anand, 30, says.
A customer pays ₹50 for a round – most indulge in one to three rounds, he says. A weekday brings him between ₹600-800, with the figure going up to ₹1,500 on a weekend. The air guns, bullets, and balloons are all sourced from shops in Parrys.
Anand helps a girl shoot balloons at his stall | Photo Credit: R. Ravindran
For 10-year-old A. Bhavadharini and her eight-year-old brother, stopping by a balloon shooting stall is practically a ritual. Both enjoy it, their parents say, and it is part of their occasional evenings spent at the Marina when the children have a holiday. “They go on the merry-go-round, build sandcastles, play badminton, and do balloon shooting. My son in particular really enjoys the shooting,” says M. Abhishek, their father.
Even as the balloons burst, Mr. Anand is already at work: deftly blowing up more, positioning them, correcting the child’s holding of the gun. Some customers are good, he says, but only a few times a year, someone with real skill comes along.
“The old, the young, the resident, the tourist – they all like doing this,” he says. “Isn’t that what Marina beach is to Madras, to leave your cares behind and just enjoy yourself here?”
