As Ganeshotsav confronts concerns over idol height, noise and food safety, Maharashtra must find a balance between devotion and responsible celebration. Ganpati is perhaps Maharashtra’s most iconic festival, occupying a unique place in the state’s social and cultural life. For ten days, the state becomes more spiritual, more musical and, appetite-wise, more generous. But this year, three words are likely to define Ganeshotsav as much as devotion itself: height, noise and pras

From the fight over DJ noise to questions over a midnight arrest, two controversies have exposed an uncomfortable gap between the BJP’s rhetoric on citizens’ rights and the conduct of its local establishment The BJP in Pune is facing mounting criticism over two separate but politically resonant episodes — the assault on citizen activist Vidyanand Bapat, who had campaigned against loud DJ systems, and the arrest of YouTuber Santosh Pandit, a familiar civic commentator who has