Friday, September 01, 2006
Girgaum
On the second day of my sojourns I went to Girgaum, Khetwadi and Chikhalwadi. Girgaum is one long main road along which many of the smaller lanes shoot out somewhat perpendicularly, the ends of which have ganpatis decorated. The main street however has taken on a completely different nature. The street was transformed. Although I noticed the phenomenon in Lalbaug first, becase it is along an arterial road, the effect is slightly diluted. 
But to see, every ten metres, a large bamboo screen with adds and politicians was extremely unnerving. There are adds to see as you enter and adds on the opposite side of the road to see while you leave. The saddest part was that most adds were not even smart enough to do something exciting with the situation, they were the most default ‘fair and lovely skin’ adds that could be lying silently in the least used hard drive of the add company.
Girgaum cha Raja was large, and although having seen GSB and LCR, largeness and goldness were not criteria to impress with. There is something to be said about each area having one large ganpati in every area.
girgaum cha raja, lalbaug cha raja, colaba cha raja and so on and so forth. i guess it makes the festival very everyday, not necessarily something you must take time out to do. So there is one big famous Ganesh in the neighbourhood, one for the building that you can hang out in or help organise, one for your house for personal devotion, one sponsored by the local party in power and one by the opposition. So the network of ganpatis is pretty widesh-deepish for lack of a better understanding of the situation. 
What I was thinking is that this whole huge festival happens across some amount of the city, children participate in drawing and sculpting competitions, cultural programs, plays, dances and singing takes place. These happen over many different parts of the city, motorable roads are made perdestrian, food stalls are set up around the events, the kind of food made changes on these days, souveniers are bought and sold and the press is all over the event, structurally, it is very much like the kalaghoda arts festival, albeit at a much much larger scale.
But to see, every ten metres, a large bamboo screen with adds and politicians was extremely unnerving. There are adds to see as you enter and adds on the opposite side of the road to see while you leave. The saddest part was that most adds were not even smart enough to do something exciting with the situation, they were the most default ‘fair and lovely skin’ adds that could be lying silently in the least used hard drive of the add company.
Girgaum cha Raja was large, and although having seen GSB and LCR, largeness and goldness were not criteria to impress with. There is something to be said about each area having one large ganpati in every area.
girgaum cha raja, lalbaug cha raja, colaba cha raja and so on and so forth. i guess it makes the festival very everyday, not necessarily something you must take time out to do. So there is one big famous Ganesh in the neighbourhood, one for the building that you can hang out in or help organise, one for your house for personal devotion, one sponsored by the local party in power and one by the opposition. So the network of ganpatis is pretty widesh-deepish for lack of a better understanding of the situation. 
What I was thinking is that this whole huge festival happens across some amount of the city, children participate in drawing and sculpting competitions, cultural programs, plays, dances and singing takes place. These happen over many different parts of the city, motorable roads are made perdestrian, food stalls are set up around the events, the kind of food made changes on these days, souveniers are bought and sold and the press is all over the event, structurally, it is very much like the kalaghoda arts festival, albeit at a much much larger scale.# posted by ateya @ 4:29 AM 
