Break handis, not bones

In a first, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has called in trekkers to train govindas from more than 150 mandals for using harnesses that will slow their descent to the ground and minimise injuries

With the BMC elections just around the corner, political parties are preparing to cash in on the dahi handi in a bigger, and more innovative, way than ever before.


All of five years, Dipesh Warekar stands atop other members of
Shri Sai Trust, during a dry run of the ensemble's dahi-handi
routine at Pratiksha Nagar, Sion

While the BJP and the Shiv Sena have stuck to providing insurance and humungous sums of prize money, the Raj Thackeray-led MNS is all set to introduce the concept of safety harnesses in the dangerous competitions.

Trekkers' associations are, in fact, preparing to train the govindas in the use of the harnesses as early as Sunday.

"We are getting trekkers to train the govindas. People on the upper levels of the human pyramid will be connected to a rope that will go over a pulley tied to a rope parallel to the one to which the handis will be tied.
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Thus, even if the lower levels of the pyramid collapse, govindas on the upper levels will not come crashing down.

Their descent will be slowed and injuries will be minimised," said Chetan Pednekar, vice president of the MNS' student wing.

Stating that this was the first time such a measure would be introduced in a dahi handi competition, he added, "What is the use of insuring the govindas after they are injured? It is better to protect them and prevent injuries instead.
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We are expecting the participation of nearly 150 mandals in the training session at the Sewri maidan this Sunday."


The inventive idea will soften the fall of govindas higher up in the
pyramid. Tied to ropes going through pulleys, they will make a
soft landing in case the lower circles collapse

Not all mandals, though, are happy with the MNS' move.

Ganesh Adivarekar from the Chinchpokli Ganesh Utsav mandal said, "The use of harnesses will spoil the spirit of the whole event. It will even encourage amateurs to get into the sport, which will cause a lot of trouble."

Other Measures
The BJP, meanwhile, claims to have registered and insured 15,200 govindas and 300 govinda mandals.

"We have insured them for sums between Rs 15,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh and the money will be disbursed according to the extent of the injury.

We are calling the insurance the BJP Suraksha Kawach.

We know the amount is not big, but most of these kids who participate in the dahi handi come from a poor background and even this help is beneficial for them," said Rajesh Shirvadkar from the BJP.

The Shiv Sena, on the other hand, has said it will organise dahi handis which have lucrative amounts as prize money and also address the problems faced by the mandals.
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"We are calling all the mandals to discuss their problems with us and are trying to get the dahi handi event to be termed a sports event," said Sena Vibhag Pramukh Bhau Korgaonkar.

Number Game

150
No of govinda mandals participating in the training

15,200
No of govindas registered and insured by the BJP this year

170
No of govindas injured during the festival last year

Two
Number of govindas who died last year owing to injuries incurred while making human pyramids