The Shifting Sands

Ganpatti is an annual religious festival celebrating Ganesh, the elephant headed god much loved in Mumbai.  Many families and societies, sometimes referred to as Mandals, bring Ganesh, in the form of a statue, into their home or into a temporary shrine or Pandal that often takes up half a lane on the street.   The Ganesh nearest to the office... Ganesh is hosted for a 1.5, 3, 5, 7, or 11 day stay with a senior family member required to stay in the home to host Ganesh. For many of the Ganesh sponsored by Mandsls, they are hosted  by small boys who work in shifts. These lads seem very impressed with their important role in the community.  .... and his security detachment While Ganesh is in the house, Pooja’s are held and offerings are made.  Bringing Ganesh into the home means significant commitment.  Once started you need to invite Ganesh into your house for the next 5 years, the statue must never get smaller, no alcohol should be consumed and t

Setting up a low Dahi Handi. Not much prize money on offer here! Dahi Handi' is an Indian festival held on the birthday of Lord Shri Krishna and is peculiar to Maharashtra. According to Hindu's, during the reign of Krishna's maternal uncle King Kaunsa, villagers were forced to sell all milk products to the Kings village.  Krishna and his childhood friends would form human pyramids to break the clay pots containing curd in order to steal the contents.  The prize! Now that dairy products are more readily available in modern India, teams referred to as Govinda's compete to form human pyramids to break clay pots (Handi's) containing curd (Dahi) or milk, butter, fruit or water.  Building the foundation of the pyramid In addition  to the dubious distinction of being covered in curd, teams that are able to break the pot can win a prize offered by local organisation or political parties.

Next time this event is on, don't miss it...at least if you enjoy seeing the incredible array of hand crafted fabrics on offer from across India.   It is hard to believe that many, according to the craft representatives, most, fabrics are HAND woven after the actual cottons and silks are HAND harvested and then HAND spun...a lot of handy hand work and the outcome, as you will see from some of my pictures is fabric that is fabulous! Two pieces of hand spun and dyed and woven silk then hand stitched into what looks like a khadi quilt ...and the colours were wonderful.  More western that many on show. Rajib from West Bengal.  His muslin was like touching gossamer threads.  So soft!   Interestingly he told me they use chemical dyes (but as you can see, not a lot) as the process is  less harsh on the fine muslin thread.   This piece is representative of the finest work and takes some four months to