Bye Bye, Ganpati

Ten days of hectic festivity finally came to an end. Yesterday evening almost the whole of Mumbai was out on the sands of Chowpatty to bid farewell to Ganpati. From around two in the afternoon people began their trek to the sea. This wonderful idol of the Lord came striding down Marine Drive escorted by revelers dancing and singing in his wake.

The entire street was crowded with TV channel vans waiting to get a ringside view. Normally the buildings lease out their terraces for astronomical amounts but this year, they were discouraged from doing so by the police. Which is why the TV crew had no option but to line up the streets and check out the action.

As always the Mumbai Police actively participate in this festival including playing the drums and the traditional horn when the processions pass by their stall under the Beach side Police station.The traffic is surprisingly very well controlled and even though there are hundreds and thousands of revelers on the street, there are no disturbances and the traffic moves smoother than it normally does!

All through the evening the Ganeshas march on with truckloads of eager followers enthusiastically dancing and singing in his wake.Of course this does not always look dignified with several women actually jigglling and wiggling in the style of the latest Bollywood idol . While critics of this vulgar "pop" culture may frown on , you cannot deny the pleasure that they are deriving from this display of "devotion".. 

This little boy and his big brother wait alongside the Police Station on the beach and were busy dancing crazily to the beat. The glee on this young lad's face is uncontainable as he gets a ringside view of the Ganeshas. (Of course he is more than thrilled to be photographed by me)

While the rest of the family sits on the wall, this little girl dressed in her pink shiny best, finds her own way of enjoying the Ganpati festival by looking for shells in the sand.

Ganpatis are kept in every lane of Mumbai, sometimes two or three in a street with every housing society having its own unique idol. The majestic Khetwadi Ganpati makes its way towards the sea.

But amid all the big idols, there is still place for the small ones like these ............. brought along by worshippers with much devotion and care.

The beach offers lots of tiny entrepreneurs an opportunity to strike it rich.

Like these balloon vendors.







This little girl is waiting to sell her baby balloons . Once her mother fills up the big ones, the two girls will be off to make some money.

The spirit of the festival is exemplified in these colourful pinwheels.

And ultimately, the coolest of them all, the unperturbed sadhu who continues his drug induced rest under a bus. Completely unmindful of the noise and hullaballoo.

Modaks for Ganpati

Today is modak eating day, thanks to the presence of Lord Ganesh in our home.

We got up late in the morning since we were going to have just a small puja and got down to making the modaks all 21 of them.

Yesterday evening we put together the ingredients for the stuffing, freshly grated coconut, strands of saffron, powdered cardamom and of course the main ingredient - sugar. We let it sit for a bit till most of the sugar dissolved, then left it on low heat with a cover to simmer for a while and let the sugar melt completely.

Then this morning we made the dough with Basmati rice flour got specially from Vanita Samaj's outlet at Shivaji Park. The trick to great modaks is to knead the steamed dough before it cools down. This is quite a toughie as you have to be particularly thick skinned not to feel the heat as you knead and pummel the dough to a smooth elastic.

Then, the dough is quickly portioned into tiny balls, each ball flattened and filled with a spoonful of coconut filling. The sides of the pastry are pinched together and fluted and brought together to close the mouth. The resulting Onion shaped pastry is then put in a steamer to get the most divine modak.........