This year, the Ganesh Utsav in the public sphere is full of cacophony. No, it is not the usual dolby walls that are creating the typical din. They are the cause though!
Yes, here, there and everywhere, the opposition to the dolby walls, or versions thereof, is the talk of the town. True, nobody would deny the fact that the dolby sound during the installation and immersion procession IS a bother, and every which way.
Yet the opposition to the dolby walls has started grating on the ears, too. First and foremost, the occasion! Timing matters, right? Why suddenly the Ganesh Utsav? Nobody appeared disturbed by the decibles on July 31 when the processions began to go on till August 1. Sickest songs possible blared bang next to a hospital.
Any meeting regarding Municipal Corporation permission was not reported then in the media. Nor is it conventionally conducted annually, right?
Come Ganeshotsav, and objections became a furore, interview after interview after interview of Mr.Bapat resounding louder and louder, what with the media, every possible YouTuber, each podcast reverberating with Bapat Speak!
Yes, the dolby walls or versions thereof ARE bad for health every which way. Period. Nobody is arguing against it. Yet funnier is the anti-dolby furore which has now reached such a crescendo that there are articles discussing how Tilak was wrong according to Gokhale-Ranade-Agarkar!
His contemporaries debated the issue in a totally different vein altogether. Why mix that past debate circumscribed by a certain (intellectual) context with the trashy dolby noise mixing. Conveniently is now forgotten the fact that for the last two years hugely it was asserted that Tilak did not initiate the Ganapati festival at all. Apparently, it was Bhai Rangari.
This year, indeed curious things are happening circa the festival, eggs getting thrown at processions, the huge murtis (actually such huge idols should be a no-no!) falling down, and now this high decibel debate!
Yes, wrong things MUST change, and sooner for the better. Yet should not it be a process of step by step changes? Incidentally, for the "dahi handi" celebrations this time, most "mandals" did reduce the volume. There was police action against the groups which violated the restrictions.
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