As the Ganapati Festival was 10 days, there’s more to report! In this post, I highlight our trip out to our landlord’s farmhouse and the last day of the Ganapati Festival, which was also a school holiday.
On day 4 of the Ganapati Festival (Friday), we were invited out to our landlord’s farmhouse. Ajinkya and his parents are also our neighbors in Sargam Building A. They have recently moved in from their farmhouse. The farm house is very nearby, but it took a bit to get there, as the road is very bumpy and muddy.
His family is one of the farming families that sold their land to the Nanded City developers some years back. They think this will be their last year celebrating the Ganapati Festival at that house. We were so grateful for their generosity to include us in this event!
We met lots (!) of their family at the farmhouse. Ajinkya’s father is one of eight – with 3 brothers and 4 sisters. All the brothers and their families were there, as was their (the brothers’) mother, who is 97 years old.
This day of the festival is for Ganapati’s two sisters, Ma Saraswati and Ma Lakshmi. Some families on this day have the two idols of the sisters included in their celebration, and they take great care to dress the sisters and offer them food and flowers, as they did with Ganapati on the first day. Ajinkya told us that they like to go into the older part of the city to get the saree material for their idols, as that’s where you can find the best quality.
This picture is their Ganapati with his sisters. One room of the house had been set aside for this. It was really beautiful.
Here are the sweets and decorations before them!
We were showed around the house and fields. Parag noted that the house – which was built in the 1960s – was a lot like the India he remembered. The walls were incredibly thick and the rafters had strong wooden beams. The floor was tile. Out back, there was a small hutch where hired help would stay. There was an area for livestock too. They still had a cow belonging to a relative. They had 2 dogs, and one had just had puppies. We got to catch a glimpse of the 3 puppies that were only 15 days old!
Ajinkya showed us around the farm. The fields were terraced, which he explained they had done at some point to help with flooding and water distribution. Under each level he said was rock, which they had to build up. Pretty amazing feat of strength. There was still some sugar cane growing and we saw trees for mangoes, custard apples, etc. Custard apples were new for us! They let the girls pick one. (Cadi’s holding one in this pic to the right.)
Here’s Ajinkya next to his favorite tree. He said he would read there for hours on end.
As we looked at the land, it started to rain fairly hard, but not before we saw a herd of water buffalo.
Inside we got an incredible meal. This was the first place I’d been where I couldn’t ask for a spoon or fork! So, one of the uncles coached me on how to eat with my hand – not something I’m used to doing! I suspect they were very tolerant of my clumsiness and perhaps faux pas, as I’m fairly certain their fingers never went into their mouths, but I think mine did a few times! Everything was delicious. I think a favorite was the onion baaji, which tasted a lot like onion rings. You can see in the picture we ate while seated on the floor off of banana leaves – something pretty traditional.
And here is the amazing set of chefs and cooks! The woman in the pink saree is Ajinkya’s mother. The girls just call her Kaku, which means auntie.
After talking with the cousins and uncles some, we headed back to Nanded City.
In an interesting bit of context (at least to me, and I get to pick because I’m writing this… :-)) the whole family is moving from the farm to the apartments. There are at least 4 units of the Dugane’s in our Sargam building, and then some of the cousins live in another complex, also in Nanded City. One of the families has a 6th grader who Alex and Cadi play with. They just moved in last month. We were told there are about 25-40 family members that used to live in the houses (there were 3 total I believe) and they are now all moving. In talking with a couple of the cousins at the house,. one of them was more positive about the transition. The other really missed the feel of the farm house life. I can only imagine what a huge transition that is.
As for the rest of the festival, we got to see more dance the next week! Every night, there were lots of performances at the amphitheater. This is a dancing, performing culture!
(Above are a picture of the city’s Ganapati, which is also in the amphitheater (left) and one of the many performances (right).)
On the Thursday (day 10), this is the day that everyone – if they haven’t already – has to immerse their Ganapati in water. Many do that in the river that runs behind our apartment. There was a steady stream of groups all day bringing their Ganapatis to the river; wading in; dunking it a few times; and then letting it go.
Some groups were accompanied by drums. Those that don’t bring the Ganapati to the river submerge them in large tanks of water stationed at various points around the city. Here’s the view from our window of both the river, and various groups, as well as the City’s procession to a tank. Notice all the drums! (Look for those in orange!)
View of Nanded City procession to immerse the Ganapati (from our 30th-floor apartment balcony)
On this last day, Parag, Cadi, Alex, Shilpa and Nachiket went into Pune proper to see some of the processions. These are the largest and most elaborate Ganapatis. They had a great time looking at everything and enjoying the delicious street snacks!
Thanks for reading this! We hope everyone is well! Enjoy the fall for us. That is a season we will not get this year!
Joshi-Staples Family India Adventure! 