Andheri’s Ganpati Mandal creates a ‘Poli Tickle Comedy’ live drama & questions the politician’s party-hopping trend
Their Ganesh murti is also eco-friendly, made out of tissue paper, guar gum & alum
Mumbai, September ’23: Riddhi Siddhi Mandal, based in JB Nagar, Andheri (E) in its 48th Ganeshutsav year, is raising questions on the country’s current trend on politician’s party hopping. They have made an interesting 12-minute live drama which they term as a ‘Poli Tickle Comedy’ that showcases how politicians conveniently change their ideology for personal gains.
This skit starts with a politician winning the election and then he suddenly goes ‘absconding’ before reappearing with the opposition party. His party workers go through utter confusion and go ahead with changing banners, logos, and branding. By the time they are done, there is a coalition that is announced with the opposition, which results in a laughter riot of confusion with ‘karyakartas’ of both parties utterly confused with the wave of change.
The show ends with an ordinary citizen raising her voice against both the ruling party and the opposition – asking them to return her vote which she had cast believing in a certain ideology. She questions that if citizens get penalized for breaking simple civic rules, why don’t politicians get punished for the same when they break the trust of their voters?
This black comedy narrative is anchored by a ‘Ustaad’ and his ‘Jamura’ who give valuable life lessons to the audience. They also point out the low percentage of voting in cities and urge the audience to not go on a vacation during election day and cast their right to vote, as it is every citizen’s duty. The show concludes by showcasing India’s development and narrates that if all politicians would keep the country before themselves, the country’s progress would be extraordinary.
Over the past decades, the Mandal has been taking up various social issues including women’s empowerment, mental issues of youth, the collapsing city infrastructure, supporting transgenders, verifying fake news, etc through live drama skits.
The Mandal’s Ganesh Murti is also made of environment-friendly and natural components. The Ganesh idol takes close to 2 months to produce as it needs a lot of time for drying and finishing. Their live show is currently attracting a lot of crowds and is being highly appreciated.
Dinesh Chindarkar (one of the organisers) said “Every year we take up a social cause and create awareness around it. As ordinary citizens we have witnessed the changes happening across the country in recent times where party-hopping has become a trend. Ideologies are forgotten and we wanted to give a voice to people’s frustration. As a country, we are poised for the next-level growth and if politicians keep self before the country, we all can drive India to greater heights.”
Kiran Patel (one of the organisers) said “Our Ganesh idol is made out of tissue paper, alum and natural gum making it environment-friendly. The idol takes a long time to create and is challenging to create in the monsoon climate. But it is time that we all wake up to the reality of conserving our environment. We are also doing the visarjan locally in an artificial pond, so as not to pollute the sea.”
