SoBo families take Bappa's help to spread social message

Both the families chose themes to spread social messages and used eco-friendly Ganesh idols.u00a0

All for a cause: The Thanawala family at their residence in Charni Road. Pic/Atul Kamble

Residents of Charni Road, the Thanawala family has been opting for themes that spread social messages for the past 24 years. This year the family chose the theme ‘Say No To Tobacco' and distributed pamphlets to all those who visited their residence.

The family also displayed posters in their house highlighting the hazards of tobacco consumption and smoking. Also, the idol they installed depicted Ganesha stubbing a cigarette butt in order to save human life from tobacco.

"After gutkha was banned in 13 states, I was keen on adopting it as our theme for this year's Ganpati festival. Our family has always adopted themes that have been the talking point of the season and have always tried to spread social messages through them," said Umesh Thanawala, a family member.

Just like the Thanawalas, even the Bhatia family did its bit to spread a message, encouraging people to ‘Plant More Trees' during Ganeshotsav.
To drive their point home, the Bhatias placed their idol in a green environment, surrounding it with banana leaves, and dressing it in green clothes to attract the attention of their relatives and neighbours.

Residents of Napeansea Road, the Bhatias used Ganeshotsav as a platform to create awareness about global warming and the importance of going green during the festival.

"My husband and I are nature lovers and we thought of going green this year for Ganeshotsav. We have a lot of plants at our residence and we placed the idol amidst them. Nature is something that needs to be protected. We always wanted to do something like this and we did it," said Bhakti Bhatia, a family member.u00a0