songs pep up the fun quotient and make the event enjoyable.
Ganeshotsav is one of the most celebrated festivals as it has it all; devotion, social gathering, beautiful pandals and even gives social messages. But there are certain unjustified actions on the part of the mandals like expressing devotion by playing bollywood numbers at loud volume. This loud noise not only disturbs concentration,
But causes a lot of health problems.
When asked is this way of expressing devotion justified, Rakesh, who is a member of a Ganpati mandal answers, “I personally think that Ganesh festival is an occasion for people to get together and entertain themselves. Film songs pep up the fun quotient and make the event enjoyable. There is no harm in playing film songs at the mandals. But care should be taken that vulgar songs should not be played.”
There are some whose exams are going on and can’t study because of the ‘music’. Saurabh, a student preparing for SSC tells, “There are 3 mandals in our locality and each wants to display its popularity by competing with sound systems. They play latest songs at high decibels. Due to this, the sound is mixed and no song is properly heard. Though they follow the ten pm limit, the sound is enough to dilute the holy atmosphere at the mandals. I feel that people should refrain from playing them.”
While some people like Ronit Sarkar have a neutral view, “Ganeshotsav like every aspect of our life is being commercialized. Film songs can be played as they add to the entertainment but more importance should be given to the rituals and the volume should be up to the level that people in 10 meters radius can hear.”
Some amount of entertainment is always necessary to add colour to our rich tradition and customs but this should not be at the cost of other citizens’ inconvenience. As to behave as responsible citizens is our greatest tradition!
– Saahil Narang
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