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South Mumbai: In Girgaum chawls, Diwali is still a big, community festival

Festive fervour families savour relations

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Madhavi Manjrekar — master of the kitchen in Manjrekar household — makes simmering hot Rawa-Besan-Moong Laddus for Diwali
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The Marathi neighbourhood of Girgaum, in the city’s south, continues to celebrate Diwali with fervour despite the celebration having undergone several changes over the decades. The residents of the area believed in making all the ‘faral’ or Diwali delicacies at home. However, now pressed for time, residents get most of the savouries from shops in the area. 

DNA visited the Manjrekar family from Lokarichi Chawl in Fanaswadi of Girgaum. The family head Ravindranath Manjrekar (62) lives a retired life with his spouse Madhavi — a homemaker — after having worked with an automobile company. His son and daughter-in-law are a working couple which leaves them with little time to make faral at home. 

Manjrekar fondly reminisces the Diwali he used to celebrate in his two-room house for over six decades. He still looks forward to celebrating the festival. However he despises noisy crackers that fill up the air during the festival. “Due to our age, the noisy patakas or fire crackers trouble us and that is the reason almost all the 17 families of our chawl have shifted to less noisy firecrackers like Fulbaji or sparklers, Anar and Jaminchakra. 

Making Rangoli in the small corridor outside his house is another tradition that has not withered with time. “We used to bring marble pieces and crush them with an iron hammer in to make Rangoli. Nowadays, readymade Rangoli powder is available and can be bought from the market. It is not homemade anymore. But, my wife and daughter-in-law draw new Rangoli designs at the doorsteps every morning,” Manjrekar said.  

The small chawl with 17 families has stayed together for decades and celebrates all festivals together.   Madhavi Manjrekar comes out of the kitchen with simmering hot Rawa-Besan-Moong Laddusto say, “We go to each other’s homes and share the best of our homemade delicacies.”

This Girgaum neighbourhood still retains chawls where Diwali is a celebration of togetherness.

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