Ganapati
For Praneet (31) and Vaishali (29), a couple from Aundh, Ganapati is where different communities meet in a shared sense of home. For Kothrud’s Aditya Kulkarni (28), a software engineer in Bengaluru, the festival is about togetherness. These 10 days come as a respite from deadlines and meetings and let me be completely present in the fleeting moments with everyone,” he said.
Because work leaves her little time to return home, yogita Pokharkar (25) a nurse in Mumbai and an Aundh resident, marks her calendar for the festival. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Pune | Silver Rate in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune | Petrol Price in Pune | Diesel Price in Pune | CNG Price in Pune | LPG Price in Pune Stay updated with the latest Pune news.
You suddenly realise you are no longer just watching the festival; you are helping create the memories someone else will grow up with,” she said. That stays with you,” Salunke said. “As a child, I would stand in the crowds watching processions, feeling that the whole city had suddenly become one big family,” Praneet said. “I thought I’d come home and surprise my parents,” said Adya Verma (27), a media planner in Toronto and a Kharadi resident.
Pune: At a time when young people are often censured for drifting away from traditional celebrations, hundreds of young professionals give up leave, late nights, weekends and sleep to volunteer for Ganeshotsav. For Shivajinagar resident Tanvi Salunke, a techie in Hyderabad, volunteering is a way to stay connected to the city she grew up in. “I have seen lanes change, children grow up, and become volunteers themselves. Now I am one of them. The work is far from glamorous. “By the time you go home, you are exhausted, covered in dust and sweat, sometimes with barely enough energy to eat. But then you remember the child staring at the decorations with wide eyes, or the old man you helped find a place to sit. For others, Ganapati is also a yearly homecoming. She planned her visit home with a Ganapati idol after realising that most of her friends would also return during the festival. “My colleagues find it strange that I use my leaves for festive work till late at night, wake up at dawn, and repeat it all over again. The work may be mundane and exhausting, from arranging chairs to standing in the rain to manage queues, but when mandals come alive and neighbourhoods gather, the thankless hours feel worth it. As Vaishali put it, “We are not just volunteering for a festival. We are preserving the city and its memories. Download the TOI App.
Atul Gawande (24), a medical representative in Nagpur and a Bhawani Peth resident, said, “People visit mandals and click pictures, but they don’t know what goes into setting them up.
Vaishali, who is a Konkani, said Ganapati reminds her of a Pune where differences momentarily fall away. But this is the Pune I want to remember, with everybody coming together where the spirit of togetherness means everything,” she said. “We are from different communities, but nobody here has ever made us feel like outsiders. Nowadays there are so many conversations about language, community, religion and differences. For her, belonging is found in ordinary moments: “Sitting on the pavement at midnight over chai and vada pav after the decorations are done, searching for missing extension wires or watching the first aarti after days of chaos are things to cherish. The experience, he added, has taught him to manage and organise not just festivals, but other situations in life.