Dahi Handi with human pyramids is a part of Krishna Janmashtami festival

India celebrates many festivals and the dahi handi festival is unique. It is to mark the birth of Lord Krishna. He is one of the most beloved Gods of Hindus and loves milk and all milk products, especially butter. To commemorate his birth, his devotees offer him butter. This is called ‘dahi’ in Hindi. They hide it in a pot (known as ‘handi’) and hang it high up. The festival is for his devotees to climb and get that pot of butter. It is difficult and the young men and women form human pyramids to get not just the butter but also the prize – nowadays, this incentive runs into a sizeable amount in lakhs of rupees. The festival has become popular because some Bollywood movies have used this theme in their movies. One of these is 'Govinda Aala Re' from "Bluffmaster" - the Shammi Kapoor film of 1963. This year, the dahi handi festival has been revived after two years – it was banned due to COVID-19. Dahi Handi Celebrations: 12 ‘Govindas’ Injured, 7 Remain in Hospital in Mumbai. The youngsters (called Govindas), dress in colorful attire and climb on each other to create human pyramids. This way they try to reach the ‘handi’ containing butter. It signifies victory through unity.

The government of Maharashtra had announced that there would be no restrictions on celebrating religious festivals this year. These include Dahi Handi and Ganesh Chaturthi. In the last two years, COVID-19 restrictions had played spoilsport. Incidentally, those who join groups and form the human pyramids are experienced and work as a team. It is not restricted to the boys but girls also participate and they practice regularly. The prizes carry handsome amounts and, at times, there are accidents. The participants treat these as a part of the game.

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Senior citizens in the world of smart phones and credit cards

Today a person becomes a senior citizen when he or she crosses the age of 60. It is an accepted norm and with life expectancy increasing, there are thousands of them around us. Most of them can perform their work independently without assistance from others. Very few of them use walking sticks for support. In the past, such individuals used to be written off. Those days are history. Of course, they have had to learn new tricks to adapt to the changing times. These are gadgets like the smartphone, debit and credit cards, online banking, online shopping etcetera. They have mastered the arts.

They know about Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram etcetera. The concept of joint family exists by exception. It is now the age of nuclear families and the children set up separate establishments. The young generation maintains regular contact through smartphones or video calling. Writing letters are primitive and the sight of the postman is rare. Those who ring the doorbell are usually the delivery boys with the items ordered online. The items could be burgers or footwear. There was a Bollywood movie starring Sanjay Dutt on senior citizens. It was “Lage raho Munna Bhai.”



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Attraction of foreign locales in TV serials

Shooting in foreign locations was a trend introduced in cinemas way back in the 1960s probably by Raj Kapoor, the doyen of Bollywood. The film was ‘Sangam’ and the song was ‘Around the world in eight dollars’ with Vijayantimala as his heroine. Later the fad caught on and Indian filmdom would go to different locations to shoot the sequences. And, when the heroes and heroines wriggled their bodies and danced to the music, curious onlookers would watch their antics spellbound.

Shooting in foreign locations helped in spreading plenty of messages and, in the pre internet days, provided opportunities to watch foreign movies and get ideas to convert them into a desi version. These did not fall in the category of plagiarism but were treated in the category of ‘influenced by’.
Times has changed and today copycats are caught out too soon because this is the age of the internet and it is difficult to fool the people.
But, shooting episodes of TV serials in foreign locations is an emerging trend and it is seen as a way to keep the cast happy. Or – it could be the result of arm twisting by those who matter. The quality of a TV serial is its TRP and, when TRP rises, there is happiness all around. When some important player suddenly wants to enjoy a holiday in Singapore or in California, the producer tells the script writer to modify the episodes and include romping on the beaches of California – it throws up opportunities of skin show and improves the TRP.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Baba Someday is always into something or the other that would benefit the masses. His heart bleeds for the misguided folks who gorge on foreign stuff and, he is determined to change their eating habits.
Hence, he was excited to have with him Bhaloo-ji who could be influenced to become Baba’s brand ambassador. As it is, Baba was himself his brand ambassador and he was confident of handling it on his own. But, two heads are better than one, hence his idea to rope in Bhaloo-ji.

‘Bhaloo-ji, I want you to try out mu products,’ he had suggested to Bhaloo-ji when they had met at a gathering.
‘What sort of products?’ Bhaloo-ji had asked. He had recently been out of hospital after some heart problems.
‘My Pat & Jolie setup has developed a face cream,’ Baba said. ‘It is purely ayurvedic and it is made up of readily available herbs from the Himalayas.’
‘What is its advantage?’ Bhaloo-ji asked. ‘My daughters are always trying out the latest products that appear in the TV ads. If it is not available in the local market, they get it online.’
‘My cream will make your skin glow like never before,’ Baba said. ‘It is much more effective compared to the face cream promoted by that King character of Bollywood movies.’
‘Well, I don’t mind trying it out,’ Bhaloo-ji said.
‘Then I will for you in my office,’ Baba said. He knew that an endorsement from a renowned person like Bhaloo-ji could give his product that extra cutting edge.
Bhaloo-ji was famous in his own special way – he loved cows and, it is rumored that all his cows enjoy air conditioned comfort in their cowsheds. His philosophy – look after the cows and they’ll look after you. Of course, he was involved in a fodder scam – but, which leader isn’t?
Baba also had a fondness for cows. His cows gave not only milk but, ghee and butter as well and it was a market that was growing day by day.
Yoga was another weakness of Baba. He has toiled real hard to bring yoga into the limelight and, impressed by his involvement in this ancient method of exercising all your faculties, he succeeded in earning global recognition and acceptance. Yoga was now on everybody’s lips and it has displaced aerobics from many countries.
Suddenly there was a commotion in the crowd. The media persons moved aside to make way for Bhaloo-ji who made his grand entry – the hair on his ears were carefully combed back to give him that extra appeal. (to be continued …)


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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