Bapat, DJ, Punekar & Ganpati!

 

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“MAN HOW MUCH NOISE DO YOU MAKE IN THIS WORLD on occasion of 28^th April, International Noise Awareness Day”― Vineet Raj Kapoor

“And no sound from outside or anywhere. That must be the thing when you have money, I think. You never have to hear anything you don't want to, ever.”― Megan Abbott

“I wish there should have been the ability to close my ears too, just the way I can close my eyes to stop watching unwanted sights” … Me

Well, from the name itself you must have guessed the topic & add the above quotes in it, sure you may be deaf but not dumb if you can read (sorry, sarcasm)! Yes, it's about Ganpati & Punekars & one Mr Bapat whose name was talk of the town of late (plz google) & common thread joining these three is, sound or say noise pollution. Ganpati Bappa has gone back (I mean if you believe in the concept that by immersing an idol you can send back even gods’, keeping due respect for Bappa & religion) & what he has left behind is good memories & devotion & faith but what his disciples / devotes has left behind is many deaf or damaged humans also & reason is our noise pollution! At the start let me be clear (confess/ disclaimer) something, I am a believer of God, at my home there is ten full days (12 days, this year) of Ganpati & my sharing is not against immersion ceremony or celebration but our ways of celebration & I am not judge to decide what’s right or wrong, its up to the readers only!

This year’s Ganpati immersion procession went for 34 hours & holding entire city for nearly two days (read as cripple) can be a subject of debate & I won’t blame the police dept as they are part of society & it was then thousand police which also are humans wearing some uniform against nearly one million humans, in case if anything goes wrong, you can imagine the odds of winning by police over the crowd! And then most of this mob is in frenzy mode for their own respective reasons & tempers or mood swings are at their extreme high & smallest of friction can turn the things nasty, this we must understand before we blame or comment on any dept or segment of society! Ok, before that about Mr Bapat, just to give background to the readers who has read about him only via memes of forwards, he is common citizen like you & me but dared to raise his voice (it’s a phrase & not sound pollution, lol bad joke) about social cause which was noise pollution during Ganpati festival. As usual what Bapat was pointing was ignored & the debate (if you call it debate) went of different track, Hindu & Non-Hindu & thankfully the guy is Hindu Brahmin (I don’t believe even in religions or castes by myself) or else the entire objection thing would have gone to different level! Bapat objected about sound levels during Ganpati festival & stated need of control on sound levels which many people took as ban or no use of loudspeakers or playing high level songs of music systems. And he did this in a meeting over Ganpati festival arranged by PMC where all segments of society including officials & elected members were there & Bapat was removed forcefully from this meeting for pointing out the sound pollution aspect of Ganpati festivals! And later also he pushed his point on social media which is like a hungry shark when it smells blood & here it was a pool of fresh blood.

Outcome was, the entire Bapat thing no more was objection raised by a Punekar about which also many objected that he is migrant from Ratnagiri & who is he to comment on “Our” festival. Unfortunately, this trend is dangerous as every debate or discussion now turns into “Ours” & “Theirs” rather than focusing on the subject of the discussion, is my point of sharing & what we are doing about it? As Bapat wasn’t objecting about Ganpati festival or devotion but as a citizen he is objecting about the way we are celebrating (do mind, we) the festival & Ours or Theirs my personal opinion is, everybody has right to celebrate but not at the cost of other’s discomfort, this I am sure also was point of Bapat, nothing more. It's not about the use of loudspeakers or Dhol taasha & dancing on streets but if that is causing not just disturbance but physical damage to others who are living around your celebrations then it must be stopped, simple! This is where we need to focus as all those who backlashed Bapat (even physical attack) blame him for Anti-Hindu & non believer of God & outsider, those people should introspect this aspect of their own definition of believer (which I have doubt will ever happen) & if they are not doing it here is where govt must take lead along with Ngo’s & start working on it! As on its own nobody will take lead & stop use of DJ or loudspeakers but the way only after repeated awareness efforts right from schools to offices, people on their own stopped buying (and burning) fire crackers as the society realized they can celebrate even without firecrackers, same path must be followed for curbing sound pollution during any festivals or celebrations & not just Ganpati! Here, all those who are naming Bapat & his supporters that why only at the time of Ganpati, so they are anti Hindus’ but my take is, first from somewhere this is needed to be started & Bapat was referring to sound pollution at large & not some particular festival, just he was part of a meeting which was organized on occasion of Ganpati, so the point was raised here. And second, barring Ganpati no other festival continues for ten-plus days, so the impact of sound pollution is much more than any other festival, simple! Ask any family residing on the roads from where every other festival or Jayanti or Punyatithi (I am deliberately not taking names, can’t afford it, lol) procession goes (Sinhgad road, Dandekar Bridge, SB Road) and listen what’s their opinion about such celebrations, of whichever religion, caste or God it may be & you will know what Bapat was trying to tell! Oh yes, even one Mr.Punit balan who is a social name in Pune also objected to sound pollution & appealed to Ganpati Mandals for not using DJ, he also got trolled by the very same people who used to praise Mr.Balan for his generous contributions for many social activities, such was the opposition for curbing sound pollution! 

Now, coming to the aspect of law & enforcement & blaming police or any govt dept; in the early morning when I drive to my badminton game, on every signal right from PMT busses to educated citizens to college kids to moms with their kids sitting behind on two-wheelers & yes Zomato/ Amazon delivery boys, all of them jump red signal or ride in wrong way. There are cameras, & they all know jumping red signals is a crime & they can get fined for it, yet they do it, why? Because they think they can get away with it, they don’t think it’s that serious a crime & they don’t care for their lives or others, & same is applicable for the sound pollution while we celebrate! It’s the mentality of the society which police & govt has to deal with & when millions break the law repeatedly, then still it’s wrong but the right way is not taking direct strict action but slowly changing the mindset of such law breakers, accept it or not! As on any cigarette packet there is clear sign printed as “Smoking is Injuries to health” yet the smokers smoke but we have banned smoking in public places because your smoking pleasure should not become nuisance to others as then it becomes a crime, same way sound-pollution for any reason must be dealt & govt must empower the concerned depts accordingly! Stopping sale or renting of any public audio loudspeaker systems, and doing it only from registered shops, can be one effective way of curbing sound pollution! This is why the hon Comm of Police said their priority is safety of millions of people & controlling the crowd during procession & he is right! Though from next year we (Police) can be proactive right from beginning & curb all the loudspeakers & music systems in advance rather than filing crimes against the Mandals’ later & PCMC police force along with Nagpur & other cities has done it successfully, surely Pune police also can do it!

 Guys, Pune’s Ganpati festival is probably the best platform to make people aware about various aspects of the environment, especially sound pollution. Eco friendly Ganpati doesn't mean just to curtail noise as well river pollution by not using hi peach speakers or not using Gulal or not throwing the all Nirmalya (garlands, flowers, decoration) in river nor just avoiding use of Plaster-of-Paris or Thermacol  But it means using this platform at fullest for the cause of environment. We are thinking of reducing the damage but we are forgetting to use the power of this festival to reach out to the people for spreading the message about environmental conservation. And indeed, Ganpati celebration is the best energy generation period, & like any energy it's up to us whether its bad or good for us as our use only decides it. Instead of naming (read as blaming) people who are demanding curb on sound, as anti-celebration or outsiders, let's come together & reduce sound levels & make Pune’s Ganpati festival as a leader for  showing the world how a society can celebrate in the right way. I think, then only even the Ganpati Bappa will bless us in true means, as he is after all God of Intellect (Buddhi); till then, use ear plugs or buds or go on vacation is one way & raise your voice on awareness front about sound pollution is another way, choice is yours, adios with this note!
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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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