Life is easy kya karein

Kellogs in India is now advertising how it is 'anaaj', the Hindi word for Grains and food. Earlier when they came to India, they wanted to change how India eats breakfast. Not to mention the high sugar ,  salt and preservatives in all these packaged products. Mothers have switched to stories like Cindrella and Red Riding Hood. No mention of the stories from Panchtantra, Ramayan and Mahabharat. Mcdonalds is Indianising its menu further and so are lot of Pizza joints. The Udupis are secure that people will keep coming back for more. The are concentrating on hygiene and consistency. Mumbai being the second honest city in the world included the Marathi, the non Marathi and the North Indian migrant population. I am sounding such a fascist when I talk like this. The festivities have put me in a space where I am okay with the way things are and the way they are not. The priest or the Pandit is called Bhattji in Marathi. The priest who washes and cleans the small temple un...

Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community organises a Ganpati at King's Circle and Ram Mandir, Wadala. Its a close knit community which has business people and educated people. I go for darshan to both the places. Am sharing about the GSB Sewa Mandal, King's Circle/ Sion.The festival is celebrated with lot of Puja, Seva and Archana. People assiting take five to seven days leave to be at the venue/ Pandal full time. The food is cooked there all meals for the community. The Gan Hom is the Ganesh Yajna which happens during the day and all people who register for it can participate with their spouse . The Tula -Bhaar is a daan, one does when a mannat is accomplished. Mannat is a wish asked from the Lord. There are huge weighing scales at the Pandal facing the Ganpati. A person can donate coconuts, bananas or grains worth his weight. He/she sits on one side of the scale and they fill the other side with the donation of your choice. Equal to your weight , the stuff is donated and used by the ...

The Janmashtmi festival is a big one in Mumbai. The shopping season starts from Raksha Bandhan. By shopping, I do not mean a mall kind of shopping but small shops which cater to Puja stuff needed for the festival. The music is in the air. Govindas or people who break the Dahi Handis consist of young children in their late teens or early twenties living in one Chawl. They hire a truck for the day and go to various places to break Dahi handis. This is a very Mumbai phenomena. The Govindas will wear same coloured t-shirts with the name of their Chawl/ colony/ compound written on it. The handis are now sponsored by political parties. There is a stage and DJ music along with live performances.Its a good opportunity to promote films, so the film actors have started visiting these Dahi handis. So there is political muscle, Filmy tussle and live act promotions. It mixes the Lavani with the Govinda music. The politico message with what's wrong with Mumbai. Each one ends their speech with w...