Ganpati

Ganpati, also known as Ganesh, is a Hindu deity celebrated for the next two weeks here in India. This Festival is especially celebrated in this state, Maharastra, and since Pune is the second largest here, it is a BIG deal (my host brother has been practicing his drums for over a month) During this festival Ganesh is said to be visiting earth for 11 days, which means 11 days of partying culminating in a grand procession with huge Ganesh figures and all night dancing through the streets. Every house has a Ganesh figure that they worship through the holiday and then submerge in a body of water to symbolize his departure from the world. Unfortunately most Ganesh figures in India are made from plastic and have toxic paints, so they pollute the already filthy water. There is however a way to make sustainable Ganpati! If the Ganesh is made out of clay, with natural paints, then it will simply dissolve into the water and integrate naturally with the river or lake bed. In Pune there is an NGO that works to change the philosophy of the Ganpati Festival so that it is environmentally friendly, in part, by teaching sustainable Ganpati making through a series of classes. Because the people here at ACM are so wonderful, they arranged a special session just for us :) On Monday we molded them out of clay and today we will paint them. Overall the process is upwards of 5 hours, but it is definitely worth it for your own, hand constructed idle.  Oh, and I should mention that the media was there the whole time, interviewing and filming us. So, if you want to see 26 kids craning over bits of clay and stammering in front of a camera, you should definitely watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShO-U_e5TfU