A tale of two cities...

Since childhood to about 2 years ago, whilst I was living in Mumbai, I always wanted to visit Pune to see how Ganesh Chaturti is celebrated here. Having heard so much from boastful friends and relatives, and also having seen part of it on TV, I was curious and in a way dying to be part of the 'cultural mela'. And looking forward to being part of the city that the entire state looked up in awe during these 10 days...

Till I shifted to Pune.
This being my second Ganeshotsav here, I slowly saw my wonderful visions of the rich culture and 'proper' conduct of the various Ganesh mandals existing in the city evaporate into shards of hard reality.

Last year, I thought I was being partial to Mumbai (which I am always, no matter what), by being critical. But this year, the story repeats itself.

Ok, now the 'what'. And this I'll say by comparing the way the festival is conducted in the two cities- Mumbai and Pune.

* In Mumbai, the pandals and decorations are ready one day prior to the Chaturti. Especially for the large Ganpatis and the famous mandals. In Pune, as of now, it is the third day and the decorations are still being done- leave aside opening the pandals to the public.

* Mumbai- The Ganesh murti is set up on the first day itself. No allowances made for any delay- the 'muhurat' is all pervasive.
Pune- The decorations are not complete, so how can you expect the Ganpati murti in it??? And this even for famous Ganpati mandals like the Dagdu Sheth. I happened to pass on Jungli Maharaj Road today and had seen about 4-5 large pandals- but all of them shut to the public- as work was still going on!

* Mumbai- The Ganpati statues are taken home and even submerged with a lot of respect. The way one covers the statue before the 'sthapana'. enters the home in a particular manner, leaves it with the back facing and more. Puneites couldn't care less (and I have seen quite a few, hence this statement!).

* Mumbai- Of course the sea is there, but in far off places, the small neighbourhood water tank, pond, lake,etc is cleaned and made available for the 'visarjan'. The BMC appoints people to collect the garlands and strictly do not allow any waste to be submerged with the statue. And the statues are submerged properly, with all the proper rites being done by the person who's sending off the God and also by the person who's taking it to be submerged.
Pune- Yes, the river is there and running full too. And an apparantly 'systematic method' or rather, as the Punekar would say, the eco-friendly method of putting the statues in specialised tanks filled with water. This is great, but the tanks never contain water till the third day, the statues are just thrown in, the garlands and other stuff dumped and there is no real 'visarjan' per se.

* Mumbai- Larger than life are the sizes of the Ganpatis. And many of them existing since years. And they also have timings and huge crowd gatherings to see them off. But there is no ego hassle- especially of who goes first and who follows. While leaving, everybody goes as one- the visarjan is done together and everyone is happy.
Pune- There is a strict protocol followed. The top five Ganpati Mandals move first, get to do the visarjan and then only can the others follow. Even with the top five, there is a heirarchy of sorts- which means that without the first moving, the second one cannot follow or lead. And in tow are the various dances, 'rangolis' being put in front and more- great fun to see- but when you think of the others behind, you only wish these guys would hurry up!

* Mumbai- Timings are adhered to- especially because it is a procession of the God. And despite the public gatherings, all the visarjans happen on the last day- nowadays majorly by 10pm. And those going after 10pm are silent in their processions and conduct.
Pune- When the Ganpatis arrive three days after they should have, you know they are justified when they have the visarjan three days after. And time??? "What's that? Let the first royal mandal move- and since they are taking their own sweet time to cross few steps forward, don't blame us for immersing our statue after a day or so- that is when we will manage to reach the water body!"

The smaller details like Mumbai being more cosmopolitan and every person following the religious activity with sincerity is not much to talk about.

And yes, despite all the lovely show that Pune puts up, I realised it is finally just that- a show. Quite a flop one at that.
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Just started a new blog on architecture, design, technology and more. Called Design-o-logy. You can check it here: http://design-o-logy.blogspot.com/
Also will be starting my own travel blog soon. The name is Wanderlogue and the link being http://wanderlogue.blogspot.com/