FunderfulWorld

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi transforms the city of Pune, giving it a big makeover. The numerous Ganesh mandals vie with each other for better stages, innovative ideas, and spectacular effects. And while some residents love the fervor and look forward to visiting the various mandals during the festivities, others are wary of the noise issues and the large crowds during the ten-day celebration. In 2012, we had planned a trip to Pune to witness this festival in all its glory.

After a lovely day in the midst of Ganesh Chaturthi festivities in Pune, we awoke to a bright morning in the city. With all the mandals in the snooze mode until evening time, we opted to spend the morning walking along Main Street (MG Road). A large part of this area remains unchanged from the last time I was here (was it 7 or 8 years ago?). And again, a flood of memories came by: unbeatable potato chips from Budhani Waferwala, brand new school uniforms from Indo-Foreign Stores, endless shopping in “Wonderland”, and MARZORIN!

Wish comes true! Destiny has a way with making wishes come true unexpectedly. For the past several years, I’ve been trying to plan a trip to Pune during Ganesh Chaturthi. I earnestly wanted my husband to experience the vibrant festivities first-hand. Somehow, the plans never worked. I almost forgot about this wish. And then, out of the blue, with less than a week’s notice, we had to visit Mumbai(and hence, an opportunity to visit Pune) right in the middle of the 10-day long festival.