Visarjan
In the September of 2011 , it was the final day of the Ganesh Festival and the streets of Mumbai were dancing to the ethnic beats of the Dhol . The crowds that account to this mass constitute to a variety of characters , which are rather unique in existence ; The head-band clad enthusiasts dancing their hearts out , the rather modest celebrations of independent families fighting their ways out of the rather larger groups , the ever-so-dutiful policemen offering their incomparable services trying to establish some sort of an order in the otherwise random movement of people : and watching all this in serene silence are the Ganesh murtis which are placed facing backwards in the decorated
tempos . These idols seem as though looking back on to the roads observing what all has changed in the previous year . They seem to be suggesting us to also have an eye on our past in today’s race towards future .
In one such huge procession was Ganya Sawant ; who was in his regular dance routine , leading his troop in the procession along with the 50-feet idol of Lord Ganesha marching towards Girgaon Chowpati . Exuberance filled the air as the rhythm of the Dhols began to step up , so did the bounce in the legs and beats of the hearts . The decibels had risen to an extent such that it had become impossible to hear one’s own voice .
“BOOM ! BOOM ! ….. …. BOOM !” , were the last three sounds heard as there was stunned silence and no one realized what had just happened , till Ganya collapsed to the floor , blood plunging out of his chest and his skull . Gunshots they were . In this moment of shock , some were wailing for their lost leader , some immediately started looking for the killer , some began to flee in any empty space they found to save themselves from the events that followed and rest were still deep lost into the silence of the shock .
Ganya Sawant , a local boy from Girgaon experienced a childhood not many would be willing to . His father had lost his job as a junior technician owing to the closure of the company , which was supposedly a manifestation of some high order political equations and connections . This event struck disaster onto Ganya’s family as the days that followed had darker repercussions than what they had expected . He had to undertake every possible job , legal and illegal , in order to merely make both ends meet ; polishing shoes , working at tea stalls , delivering newspapers and milk , selling movie tickets in black . In days of desperation , he also had readily resorted to pick-pocketing in local trains . Constantly hiding their faces from the land owners asking for rent dues and from the policemen constantly in search of Ganya for his illegal activities ,life had become miserable for the family . Ganya had a daily routine of sleepless nights and tiring days for the years that followed . He often used to spend his nights alone in latrines at railway stations , totally terrified , primarily of getting caught by the cops ; but actually being terrified of life in general .
But , ironically money did not actually matter to him as much as it apparently seemed to . He was a man driven by vengeance and he HAD to prove a point . Due to his early exposure to the darker side of the world , he had very soon recognized the culprits of his father’s unemployment and in turn , the stability of his family . His urge for vengeance over the economically and politically superior sections of the society who cared little for their comparatively underprivileged counterparts , was increasing with every tick of the clock .
