Utsavi

The hub of Ganeshotsav in Mumbai has traditionally been Lalbaug where thousands throng to catch a glimpse of the city’s most iconic Ganesh idols. Here is where Nanasaheb Shendkar Director of Utsavi runs a unit where he conceptualises and gives shape to various designs of Makhars. Nanasaheb, who used to run his own thermocol manufacturing unit for 25 years with 150 to 200 workers shut down the unit and ventured into paper makhars, says that post immersion of the idol the decoration usually ends up clogging the drains in the city and ruins the environment. With the startling adverse effects of the use of the slow biodegradable thermocol coming to the fore, Nanasaheb introduced sturdy, foldable, Eco friendly paper makhars in the market with a noble mission of giving back to Mother Nature what it has given to mankind. The movement that one man initiated has today gained momentum in not only Mumbai but the whole of Maharashtra. The preparation for the 11-day revelry starts around 10 months prior to the Hindu month of Bhadrapada (Bhadarva Sud Chaturthi) in Ahmednagar with his team of 25 co-workers at Utsavi. For Nanasaheb, who is immensely determined his axis of strength and driving force is his wife Jijabai Shendkar. The core value system on which Nanasaheb runs Utsavi is passion and belief where profit making comes secondary to the appreciation of his art. Such is his fame that people would swarm to his place to see his artistic creation during Ganeshotsav. Celebrities like Balasaheb Thackeray, Asha Bhosale, Sharad Talwalkar, Nirmala Sawant Prabhawalkar, Jyotibhaskar Salgaonkar, Liladhar Dake have personally visited to see his creations.