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I dedicate my new Dahi Handii set to the war cry of the Marathi Manoos in Mumbai and Thane where Gokulashtami is celebrated with great fervor and the spirit of peace and humanity ..

This new set is part of my pictorial documentation of Hope and Hindutva a message of Universal Peace.

I will be creating two sets on Flickr keeping my old on hold..These are pictures of the Dahi Handi I shot barefeet and in my fasting state

It began from Ranade Road and after I had shot this I took a train to Thane in the afternoon and reached Vartak Nagar and shot the grand and spectacular Dahi Handi of Mr Pratap Sarnaik the a grand affair of Thane neighbors envy owners pride..

This is my Introduction to his Dahi Handi a very long series , this was a power packed show and the celebrity list is far too long..and this was Mr Pratap Sarnaiks show all the way no actor could compete with his energy level his love for this awesome event and he was ably supported by his wife and his two sons Purvesh and Vihang and their friends relatives volunteers and the Shiv Sena cadre the part to which Mr Sarnaik belongs.

He made Prachi Desai and Aftab Shivdasani break the handi hung on the stage , out in the ground the various groups came and tried their luck..

There was Shreyas Talpade Vinod Kambli Narvekar and other top notch Marathi film and stage artistes ,,

But the jewel in the crown was the charming humble and the Rahul Gandhi of the Thackeray family Aditya U Thackeray son of Mr Udhav Thackeray,

The crowds loved him and cheered for this future leader of Maharashtra.

I was introduced to him by Purvesh and I mentioned that his father Udhavji and I shared the same Guru late Prof BW Jatkar and he immediately took me besides him and told the photographers to shoot us both ..


Such was his respect for me through his magnanimity , I am not good at reporting but I shall show yo this event through pictures the Russian dance laser show and the works..

The event was being recorded live to USA by CNN and an American network was shooting this on 3D cameras.

I broke my fast on the stage and met Mr Bal Nandgaonkar and Mr Jadhav , their Talwadi Pandal hasd broken the World record in Dahi Handi in 2008 that I had shot , and Mr Pratap Sarnaik introduced me to the crowd and told them the same.


So I will keep text brief and I must thank a young photographer Sangram Musale who was a great help he he shoots with a D300 and has been shooting fro the 8 standard he told me ..
He was shooting this event too we traveled back together as he stays in Dadar from Dadar I proceeded to Bandra.


So this set is Dahi Handi of Mr Pratap Sarnaik at Vartak Nagar Thane .

The other set is Dahi Handi at Ranade Road Dadar.


The sculpture of Chattrapati Maharaj was part of Mr Pratap Sarnaiks stage decor.

Huge cut outs of Shree Balasaheb Thackeray and Mr Udhav Thackeray adorned the grounds.

Tags:   hope and hindutva pratap sarnak vartak nagar dahi handi jai bhavani jai shivaji sanskruti yuva pratishtan thane pratap sarnaik purvesh sarnaik vihang sarnaik hope and hindutva message of peace and humanity hindus hinduism pratap sarnaik dahi handi vartak nagar thane

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“Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya
Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha
Abhyuthanam Adharmasya
Tadatmanam Srijami Aham”

A shloka taken from Bhagvat Gita where Shri Krishna while addressing Arjuna says “Whenever there is decay of righteousness, O! Bharata and a rise of unrighteousness, then I will manifest myself”.





I am keeping my Dadar pictures on hold just a few hundred remain to be uploaded at my site at Flickr.com.

After I had shot the Dadar Dahi Handi I went to Thane Vartak Nagar to shoot Mr Pratap Sarnaiks Dahi Handi - the No 1 dahi handi of Thane .

It is not about ten tiers or nine tiers that make you big but humility and hospitality .

Now why do I say this simply because emotions override all other aspects of Humanity.

And this was visible when Aftab Shivdasani spoke to the disciplined peace loving dahi handi lovers of Thane at Vartak Nagar where he was the chief guest along with Prachi Desai , he thanked the crowd and this fine actor whom I have known since a long time had tears in his eyes he was overwhelmed by the love of the crowds for him and these tears are what makes a Dahi Handi the No 1 in Thane.



I read body language and shoot pictures as a poet I read the poetry of tears as they dropped from Aftabs eyes he touched Thane with this gesture of his humanness and his humility for the Sarnaiks too,

I am not journalist nor do I have any media pretensions of being a journalist my camera my pictures do the talking and so this long series might be devoid of text..

I must talk of one person who besides the Sarnaiks touched me deeply was Pappu Bhai a close family associate of the Sarnaiks , he knew I was fasting tired and my legs were swollen as I normally shoot some events barefeet this was one of them.

He ordered batata wada fruits and cold drinks so I could break my fast on the stage and I did it without feeling I was away from home.

All the volunteers were very helpful to me the performers and the guests and when Mr Pratap Sarnaik introduced me to the crowds I too had tears in my eyes , he told them I was the photographer who had shot their World Record breaking Dahi Handi 2008 .

He called me Family and a few minutes back today his son Purvesh Sarnaik Pappu Bhai came to my house with a shawl to felicitate me and I liked this because they felicitated Marziya Shakir my grand daughter two and a half year old street photographer too,

Well before they felicitated me Marziya shot their pictures on my Nikon D 80..and they could not believe it..

So now you know why Mr Pratap Sarnaik his family and my family are a singe family.

For me before you are a Hindu or a Muslim you need to be human this is the Mantra of Mans survival his Karma and his Dharma.

I believe I am as much Hindu as you are Muslim..

Tags:   mr pratap sarnaiks dahi handi vartak nagar thane hope and hindutva pratap sarnaiks dahi handi no1 purvesh sarnaik vartak nagar thane sanskruti yuva pratishtan thane pratap sarnaik vihang sarnaik hope and hindutva message of peace and humanity hindus hinduism pratap sarnaik dahi handi vartak nagar thane

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Tags:   mr pratap sarnaiks dahi handi vartak nagar thane hope and hindutva pratap sarnaiks dahi handi no1 purvesh sarnaik vartak nagar thane sanskruti yuva pratishtan thane pratap sarnaik vihang sarnaik hope and hindutva message of peace and humanity hindus hinduism pratap sarnaik dahi handi vartak nagar thane

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Tags:   mr pratap sarnaiks dahi handi vartak nagar thane hope and hindutva pratap sarnaiks dahi handi no1 purvesh sarnaik vartak nagar thane sanskruti yuva pratishtan thane pratap sarnaik vihang sarnaik hope and hindutva message of peace and humanity hindus hinduism pratap sarnaik dahi handi vartak nagar thane

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Tags:   mr pratap sarnaiks dahi handi vartak nagar thane hope and hindutva pratap sarnaiks dahi handi no1 purvesh sarnaik vartak nagar thane sanskruti yuva pratishtan thane pratap sarnaik vihang sarnaik hope and hindutva message of peace and humanity hindus hinduism pratap sarnaik dahi handi vartak nagar thane

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