Forunately or unfortunately, I live on a road that leads to Borivli’s most popular and the only immersion site. If you are wondering what I am talking about then think no further…It is Bombay’s (Mumbai’s) annual festival of pomp and noise, Ganpati Visarjan.
At times the Ganpatis are larger than life whereas at times the decoration is so frivolous that it hides the esscence of Ganpati. Thousands of people tread our roads on this particular day, dancing and singing their way towards the circumlocuted sea. Crackers going by thousands and a similar amount puffed in the ever-polluted air. But on this very day, people have no qualms. The pollution theories change for a day and the whole milieu turns upside down.
As you look down from the jam-packed terraces you can see hundreds of heads bobbing up and down, members of the street bands carrying bulky drums and kicking them with ever-increasing vigour (I have to admit, reluctantly, that the decibel level beats that of rock music
If ever I’ll miss anything about Bombay and especially the area that I live in, it will always be the joyous and the ever more pompous festival of noise.