It used to be so fun to play all day with literally no care in the world. But now, it’s such a faint distant memory. With our due assignments, excruciating internships and 9-5 corporate slavery, playing has become a rather insignificant part of life. This constant romanticisation of nostalgia makes me wanna go back in time and relive all those days of pure joy. However, I got a little lucky and got to live a day like that once again. And I loved it to bits!
So as we all know, the LEGO group turned 90 recently and they set up playgrounds in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. I happened to be at the one in Ambience mall, Gurugram last Friday. The arena was nothing less than a dream. There were different LEGO sets put up in stalls all around and you could just go crazy with them. My favourite part honestly, was the free-build zone. You could just pick up any brick and create your own structures. The entire activity felt so productive and I could feel all my creative cells coming to play. LEGO bricks inculcate a sense of playfulness, yet focus at the same time. And I could see that happen to everyone present there.
There were little kids trying their hands at the classic sets, making fire robots and their dream houses. We had people from the LEGO Group that were helping these kids in building. They were, however, merely assisting, most of the magic was in fact done by the kids. It was very wholesome to watch them enjoy the process of building and come up with fresh and naive ideas. And that’s not it. We had THE Rannvijay Singha join us at the LEGO Playground. Not only did he talk about how much his daughter is into building LEGO bricks, but he also played with the little champs that were there. From car racing to building the tallest tower, Rann totally stole the show with his charming presence.
I also got a chance to have a conversation with two of the most fascinating LEGO collectors who were present at the playground—Nimay and Dominic. Both of them got really into the LEGO bricks at a very young age. But what blew my mind was when Nimay told me about his 6,000 LEGO sets. Dominic also showed us some of his best creations that included an Aamir Khan figure and TATA trucks. When I found out that Nimay invests about 12 hours a week in playing with the LEGO sets and Dominic spends about 3-4 hours every day, I swear I wanted to grab one of those adult LEGO sets real quick! (Check ‘em out here) Dominic was also the conceptualiser of the LEGO Playground.
The event was pure joy and a serotonin boost. I had my fair share of playing with the bricks (and realising how bad I was at it than any other 5 year old lol). Kids kept coming in throughout the day, while their parents had to literally beg them to come out. However, if you missed the Gurugram LEGO Playground, you can still attend the one in Bangalore. It will be set up in Forum Shanti Niketan Mall, between 14th to 23rd October. You should also check out the LEGO sets in case you wanna brush up on your creativity. You won’t regret it at all! 😉
