Gen-Y opts for ‘pretty’ Ganeshas

One would think that the environment friendly Gen-Y would warm to the idea of an environmentally safe celebration this Ganesh Chaturthi. But, as the day draws near and preparations begin, a different picture seems to be emerging.

"This is our first Chaturthi together," says Garima, as she hands out money to the vendor. Picking up a coloured Ganesh idol she says of her choice: "The coloured ones look beautiful." When informed that the colour used is high in lead content. Her husband says, "We purchased a small idol that we plan to immerse in a bucket."

For them, the idea of an environmentally safe Ganesh Chaturthi ends there. As they feel, "we will not do the visarjan in any of the tanks so there will be no contamination". Asked what they plan to do with the clay in the bucket, they say, "We will put it in our garden." In there pretty heads they feel they are being 'eco-friendly'.

However, there are many others who are consciously making a choice to pick up the 'dull looking' idols. "It will be fun to decorate the idol with colourful flowers to deck it up," says 16-year-old Shwetha, who was able to convince her family of the harm the colours cause to water bodies.

The demand for both - coloured and uncoloured idols is equal as many vendors have stocked enough of the varieties. Even the pricing is competitive, the medium-sized uncoloured idols cost Rs125; a little gold embellished one comes for Rs150 and the coloured ones cost Rs250.

"There is the Mumbai-made medium-sized Plaster of Paris Ganesh idols that cost as much as Rs1,000," said Venkatesh, a vendor, who has stocked all four varieties.

"Brahmin families insist on plain idols," says Nagarajappa, another vendor, who has idols starting from Rs50. "We always buy the plain, uncoloured Ganesh idol," says 65-year-old R Nageswaran. He is quick to point out… "They have now started painting a little gold on the forehead and that defeats the purpose as the paint is high in lead and any amount is bad."

He takes a good 20 minutes to select a nice idol and as the vendor wraps his purchase, he says, "The visarjan is done at the pond near the temple. But, we remove the flowers and other decoration so that the water is not poisoned."

Young and old are trying their best to do away with the fancy coloured idols, but the city is far from celebrating a safe, eco-friendly Ganesh Chaturthi.