Eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations

The Ganapati at Mrudula & Venugopal’s house looks like marble. These days, marble Ganapatis seem to be popular, with environmentally conscious people wanting to celebrate the Ganesh Chaturthi festival without causing pollution.

Ganesha speaks

The Ganesha festival at our apartment complex in Mumbai, is never complete without the inter-wing Rangoli competition.

The ladies (we haven’t had gentlemen interested in taking part) take a lot of effort in designing the rangolis, deciding on the materials they would use, preparing the colours (yes, some colours are made at home), and then drawing and finishing their art works. The theme was “Go Green”, so all the rangolis had to be centred around this.

It was indeed hard work! With six wings, there were finally six beautiful pieces of rangoli for us to enjoy. And through each of them, Ganesha speaks.

Thanks to Meeta for sharing the pictures.

The rain is no dampener

Continuous rains have lashed the city since the early hours of today. Lokhandwala Circle hasn’t got flooded since it was relaid a couple of years ago, but today was different.

The road became a river, washing away whatever could not resist the force of the swiftly moving water.

Ganeshas and lakes

Eco-Ganesha kai hote? (What is Eco-Ganesha?) For sixty year old Savitri, who has lived all her life in a village in Maharashtra, the only Ganeshas she knows are the ones they make with the soil from the beds (and surroundings) of lakes and ponds in her village. Her first time in the city, Savitri is astounded by the size and the variety of Ganeshas she sees in the shops and Eco-Ganesha is a word that has got fixed in her memory forever.

Like many proud Marathas, Savitri says that the Ganesha festival itself originated during her ancestor Shivaji’s time, or so her grandmother told her. She is happy that the festival is celebrated so grandly in the city, but little does she know that many city dwellers are trying to emulate her and her village mates today.