Home-made Ganeshas
September 2013
This Ganesh Chaturthi before you trot off to book your favourite Ganesha idol, pause for a moment and think if you can give a new twist to the whole celebration.
An eco-friendly Ganesha made by Vilas Joglekar And what could be better than making your adorable Vinayak with your own hands? Eco-friendly Ganeshas are the flavour of the season, and they are cost-effective too. Several Ganesha-making workshops are happening all across Mumbai and Maharashtra that train people to create Ganesha idols which are environment friendly.
Malavika Gadiyar of RUR (an environment action group) attended a workshop in Mumbai and returned empowered to create an eco-friendly Ganesha for her home puja. She says, “Normally shaadu clay which is brought from the riverside is mixed with plaster of Paris for the binding effect to take place. Not only is it strong but also looks very beautiful to behold. But the disadvantage is that POP takes very long to dissolve in water and also releases many carcinogenic elements in the water, thus polluting it.
“At the workshop I learnt to make them from potter’s clay. One simply has to mix water in the clay, make a dough and mould it into shape. Later on, we can colour and decorate the idol as much as we want.”
Vilas Joglekar’s mother, Dr. Chhaya Joglekar, has been making Ganesh idols from shaadu maati for more than 20 years, but Vilas gave it a fresh twist once he took over. He makes idols from whatever material is available at home. Vilas, a mechanical engineer living in Malad, makes the idols from clay gifted to his children, McDonald's cups, pebbles, paper, dolls or anything which could fire his imagination.
He says, “I would not hesitate to make idols from the plastic waste that is kept for recycling or from the silver lining of Kelloggs packets, which anyway would find its way to the landfill. This would be one good way of making use of it.”
Tejal V, a graphic designer, has been celebrating the festival by making a symbolic Ganesha from sugarcane sticks since years. The next day the sugarcane becomes prasad and the remaining goes to the plants. She says, “This has been a tradition in our home. It’s fun to place sugarcane pieces one above the other and build the symbolic form of Ganesha. It turns out to be different every year. My elders love doing puja, but overall it is a very simple affair and most importantly, eco-friendly.'
Contact Vilas Joglekar at 9821238193. Malvika Gadiyar at 9820136101 and Tejal at 9833707598
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