City of Pune bid its favourite deity a simple yet graceful adieu. All the pomp and hoopla which accompanies the festival each year was absent this year. Even though the scare of H1N1 Flu had curtailed the festivities, it did not affect the festive mood of the mandal workers. The mandals had given way to the decorations and floats, which are hallmark of Pune's Ganesh Utsav. Instead, the mandals were engaged in the some social work which they are involved in throughout the year anyway. All five prestigious Ganpatis of city had completed their immersion procesion till afternoon.
I was in the procession after evening. Even at that time, the environment was brimming with the loud voices of Ganpati Bappa Morya. Loud speakers were blaring out choices of songs filled with rhythm and beats. Language was not a question. I could hear Kombadi Palali, a hit Marathi song and the next song was Mambazha Mambazham from Pokkiri, a Tamil movie! But that is always a part of an immersion procession and that is exactly what I like to be. If one derides this fare as an expression of substandard taste of low-brow public, then there was also high class squads of Indian instruments like dhol and lezim. Schoolchildren happens to be a major attraction of these squads but they were not on the roads yesterday as a precautionary measure. I could spot the same devotion and dedication in volunteers of those squads which they exhibit each year.
All in all, Bappa received a fitting farewell this year also. Simple, Gracious and Safe!
0 comments:
Post a Comment