Mumbai: The traditional dahi-handi celebrations – marking the birth of infant Lord Krishna – was a pacey day for Mumbai, Thane and other cities, with soaring human pyramids, beating of drums, Bollywood beats, thundering cheers with politicians and film celebs participating in the festive spirit and goading more than 1,500 Govinda ‘pathaks’ (troupes) battling for honours plus hefty cash prizes. From Thane to Ghatkopar, Andheri to Chembur, Borivali to Jogeshwari, Dadar to Mazgaon, hundreds of troupes and their daredevil Govindas pushed themselves to scale the ‘upper limit’, attempting to build spontaneous nine, ten or even eleven-tiered human pyramids with rumbling applause from the excited packed crowds, but marred somewhat with injuries. The roads and side streets to the major venues turned into colourful carnivals, with the Govindas arriving in open tempos, buses or trucks, bands blaring with the sole aim to build the biggest pyramids and break records. Keeping them company on the stage were celebs and dance troupes which kept the audiences on their feet, dancing and making merry at the first public festival of the current festive season. Star Power Bollywood celebrities like Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Govinda, Chunky Pandey plus Marathi glamour personalities added ‘star power’ to the revelries while police and private security personnel maintained a tight vigil, with spirits hardly dampened by the intermittent rains that lashed many parts of the MMR today. Among the patrons, organisers or sponsors were ruling Mahayuti state ministers like Pratap Sarnaik, Shivaji Patil Prakash Surve, Ram Kadam, opposition leaders/parties like Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray or Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, besides some politically-backed NGOs. At BJP MLA Ram Kadam’s Ghatkopar celebration, dancer and social-media sensation Gautami Patil stole the show. The moment she thundered onto the stage with her foot-tapping six female dancers and launched her trademark energetic ‘thumkas’ (moves), the crowds erupted and Hindi, Marathi film or folk songs with thumping beats soon had thousands letting down their hair. However, the competing Govind troupes maintained their focus for the eye-catching ‘dahi-handi’ hanging at least 50-60 feet high at different venues, and made quick mental calculations on how to form the pyramids and ‘bag’ the smashing trophy with big prize monies awaiting the tall conquerors. As in the past few years, all-female troupes of Govindas also came out in force, hoping to edge out the all-male monopoly in the challenging festival. The all-women pathaks, several aiming for seven-layer formations, matched their male counterparts in stamina, balance and sheer nerve, and earned unabashed public admiration for their efforts. The troupes and the participants reflected a unique composition of the urbanites – many collegians, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, architects, corporate executives, political activists, sportspersons or local artistes who practiced the pyramid formations many weeks at night time for the Big D-day today.
Stringent Security The state government had stipulated stringent security and safety measures for the Govindas and provided Rs.10 lakh insurance cover for around 1.6-lakh registered troupes/organisations, while the BMC hospitals and emergency teams remained on high alert. Despite this, there were at least 3 fatalities of Govindas and 120-plus injuries across the MMR but the festivities continued till the late evening with crowds cheering at the sky-high celebrations. Top lures Major colourful venues welcomed the dahi-handi revellers at Ghatkopar (BJP MLA Ram Kadam); Borivali (BJP’s Prakash Surve); Chembur (MNS’ Karna Dunbale). In Thane (BJP’s Shivaji Patil with a top prize of Rs 71-lakhs) and (MNS’ Avinash Jadhav with prize money of Rs 25-Lakhs); BJP Thane City and Sharada Sankalp Pratisthan’s Rs 55-Lakh, Yuva Star Pratisthan’s Rs. 21-Lakhs for a world-record and Sai Jalaram Pratisthan’s Rs 21-Lakh award.
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