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What do the figures indicate?

Pune is fortunate to have two rivers, the Mula and the Mutha. Yet the present condition of these rivers shows Punekars do not care at all for their natural wealth. 

An annual debate before Ganeshutsav has almost become a ritual as environment activists and local authorities urge people to immerse their Ganesh idols in specially built ‘houd’ and not in the river. Traditionally, the idol is supposed to be made out of ‘Shadu’ a kind of river mud which means the idols dissolves easily in water once immersed. There are umpteen workshops to help people make their own idol which can be easily immersed at home.


Yet many idols continue to be made with Plaster of Paris. These often do not dissolve in water and the idol that we have worshiped for 10 days suddenly becomes a ‘problem’. Here is a stark article in The Alternative about fate of Ganesha idols.

The river becomes almost a trickle as water and is often highly polluted



This year we reached the river early to immerse our idol. I was pleasantly surprised to find the entire area absolutely clean. I could see the bottom of the ‘houd’ and I was very happy to immerse our idol in its clean water.

It was possible to see the bottom of the ‘houd’

Yet an article in Maharashtra Times dated 10 Sep 2014 was very disheartening. It has published data which indicates that the number of idols immersed in the river in the Sep 2014 Ganeshutsav has actually increased y/y and the number of idols immersed in the ‘houd’ has reduced y/y. The article does not mention number of  idols immersed at home nor the total number of idols in the city. 



However if one considers only the figures available in the article then there seems to be shift towards immersing the Ganesha idol in the river, tanks, lakes and wells. 

Above figures for Sep 2014 repeated below with y/y figures in brackets. The figures in red are higher y/y:
Ghat, Nadipatra: 1 lakh 37 thousand 730 (1 lakh 11 thousand 24) 
Houd: 1 lakh 59 thousand 456 (1 lakh 20 thousand 365)
Tanks: 45118 (29095)
Canals: 38323 (56120)
Talav: 509 (359)
Wells: 1096 (805)

Why? Why? 
Lets hope the situation improves in 2015. 

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Tedious Yet Satisfying!

An important part of Ganapati celebrations at home is preparing the offerings. Besides the usual retinue of flowers and garlands, the Pooja includes offerings of leaves of different types (generally referred to as Patri). Offerings of Patri is a topic which demands a separate post (read more in this article from The Hindu) and this post focuses on one particular type that is Durva (दुर्वा) . 

The Durva to be offered is the tender shoot of grass with only three terminal blades including the new shoot. Usually a bunch of 5,11 or 21 Durva are offered. Panicum dactylon, Imperata cylindrica, Desmostachya bipinnata and Cynodon dactylon are some grass species identified as sacred grass. 

In bygone days, possibly each and every household had a garden or at least a place where people could visit to pluck Durva. So-called development in urban Indian cities has created a concrete jungle with almost no gardens. The only source for Durva is the market where one can buy bunches of grass, which cannot really be offered to the God. Ideally the grass should be sorted out, almost akin to picking out leaves from a bunch of Fenugreek leaves! Its not a good idea to think about the origins of the grass, who or what has walked over it. One can simply wash the ready Durva before offering it to Ganesh.

It took me almost four hours to sort a bunch of grass into Durva for offering. 

Ganesh, Durva, sacred grass
Each Durva is carefully separated into a steel plate

Each twig has to be carefully examined and cut out at the
correct spot (so only the terminal three shoots are present). At this
stage the twig must be handled very carefully else a blade may break off
which means the Durva cannot be used. 

Each twig of grass is assessed.
Finally: the small pile of Durva and a big pile of blades of grass

End result, 16 bunches of 21 Durva each! A time intensive, delicate process but strangely satisfying and enjoyable!

Each bunch has 21 Durva.The string must be firm but not too tight else the delicate stems will break.

An alternative to this is to get a bunch of pure silver Durva that are available at most jewelers in Pune.

Have a happy, noise-free, eco-friendly Ganesh Ustav! 

Here is a link to an article by Devdutt Pattanaik in Times of India about the legends associated with Durva.

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Down but not out!

The Savitribai Phule Pune University (erstwhile University of Pune, popularly called only University) is home to a really really old Gorakh Chincha or Boabab (Adansonia digitata). It grows in the rear lawns and has some really massive infestation (probably white ants) that has created a huge hole in its main trunk. It was impressive despite this cavity and flowered quite freely.

Here is an image captured quite a while ago.

Pune trees, University, Gorakh chincha

As you can see the tree has bent down considerably as it is weakened on one side due to the infestation. However incessant heavy rain in the monsoon of 2014 caused it to bend down and collapse completely. Here is picture of a newspaper report about the same.

Pune trees
Report in a Pune daily about the fallen tree

I was quite saddened but really there is not much one can do at an individual level. (Does that sound like an excuse?) Anyway… I happened to visit the University recently and to my utter joy, the tree is still alive. I saw healthy shoots and sprouts at many branches though the tree is horizontal.

Pune trees, Boabab,
The Boabab has fresh new shoots!

There is always hope! 
Cheers!

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The Sun Rises

Sunrise at Panchgani tabletop

An overcast sky early morning at Pondicherry. The sun struggles to be seen

The sky lightens before sunrise as seen at Sinhagad, Pune

The sun rises somewhere near Washington  (this image has been captured by a relative)

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