Being part of History….Part 2, the party spoilers

Blogged about the WC 11 finals experience. But the party had its lows also. Drunken men on the road, coming out in front of the car, dancing , wanting to shake hands with all alike…
Wonder how many such cases might have occurred all over and how many actually got reported. Mumbai in particular has had its share during New Year Eve outside J W Marriot at Juhu and even during the T20 WC final celebrations on the road, when a few guys misbehaved in the crowd with a girl, resulting in the girl falling in a drench.
Holi and Ganpati are two more occasions where I have seen such people passing lewd comments and trying to act fresh.
Such party poopers are around everywhere, cant argue with them, have to use tact and move ahead.
Before ending this piece, I would like to share one interesting point told to me once…..
Why is it that a drunkard in his best of mood , call his neighbors wife “HELLO DARLING”, but at the same time if he sees his mother or wife, will fold his hands or put his fingers on the lips and say “SHHHH….I am ok”. If he can recognize his mother or wife, what makes him forget the tact that he should be knowing the neighbors wife also??

Art and craft bug

This Ganpati the Art and craft bug had bitten me. I had seen a show on the TV once with my kids, where they were showing how to make a small cave. I decided to do away with the “small” and make a bigger cave for decoration to keep my Idol in this year.

I started off with a cardboard box, after having secured the back with thermocol, i started making newspaper balls and using diluted fevicol stuck those paper balls on the top of the box. In the show they had used craft paper and tissue paper to cover up the paper balls. I found it unfeasible after starting. Got stuck. So then I used hessian bags to cover up the entire box and started giving the shape of a cave by using Plaster of Paris. Not being used to it, I used hand gloves, but found that they hinder the working. So started doing so with my bare hands. Daily evening after putting in 2-3 days into it, i realised that once i had put plaster of paris inside the box my height was reduced and that my Idol wont fit in. Infact I had overlooked the height factor of the idol totally!!!!

So it was back to drawing board. Now I got 50 mm thermocol sheets. but them below the box, on two sides and started cutting the centre of the box. Not an expert in mixing Plaster of Paris, some parts were becoming soggy, some parts were cracking, and the major hurdle i was facing was to prevent the front top from sagging down because of the weight. I next placed the entire thermocol and box cave on a table and right from the top of the box to the floor, i started shaping the cave using Plaster of Paris.

Support from family members was there, but then even they had their doubts , if it will look good. Finally, the entire structure was brushed using White cement with the help of a local painter on the last day.

We brought in some plants from our terrace and placed them all around the structure, lights were added.But……the main beauty came out after placing the idol in it. Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!!

Ganpati Bappa

Having lived in Dadar for almost 30 years since my birth, I have had the privilege of viewing the Ganeshotsav year after year, each year fascinating me more and more. Attending Ganeshotsav at my friends residence, participating in the revelry accompanied with it, going for the visarjan at the Beach behind our residence, sitting on our building terrace and viewing the sea of humanity and the Idols popping the sea was my yearly ritual. During the last days of Visarjan, when most of the bigger idols were brought for visarjan was always spend sitting at the Shivaji Park Maidan “katta” and enjoying.

After shifting to Kandivali, since my residence is not on the main road, I miss the processions, the fun. I have tried and made it a point to accompany the Visarjan of my building people, but something was lacking. I was missing my friends, my Shivaji Park. This year, by Gods blessings, we managed to keep the Idol at our residence. The atmosphere for 2 days at our residence was rightly described by my grandmothers as “a wedding atmosphere”. The stream of guests, relatives, family and friends was something which kept us charged.

My heartfelt gratitude to all who made me get that one feeling which I was missing since last 6 years. I am eagerly waiting for the next year….with the words on my lips “Pudchya Varshi Lavkar Ya”(Come early next year)