Mumbai, September’25: Riddhi Siddhi Mandal, based in JB Nagar, Andheri (E), is celebrating its 50th year with a special initiative this Ganesh Utsav. The Mandal has created a 15-minute live drama titled ‘Vinayaki’, which highlights how a woman’s multi-tasking life such as balancing family, work, and society, often takes a toll on her personal well-being. In today’s fast-paced life of Mumbai, women’s emotions and health are frequently compromised, affecting their overall balance of life.

The skit, designed as a live musical, follows Ragini, a young woman passionate about music. Under parental and societal pressure, she sets her passion aside to focus on her career. She later gets married and struggles with the difficult balancing act of family and work, gradually losing her own identity. As responsibilities increase, she tries to keep everyone happy, but her efforts are taken for granted, and the value she brings goes unrecognised. At the point of breakdown, she rediscovers her passion for singing. With the virality of social media, her song becomes a sensation, helping her reclaim her sense of self and liberation.

This musical drama captures the emotional highs and lows of a woman’s journey and makes a heartfelt appeal to society to empower, support, and empathise with the women of today, given the multi-tasking, dynamic roles they play. The theme has been scripted by the Mandal volunteers, with noted Marathi theatre artist Disha Dinde playing the protagonist.

Marking its golden jubilee, Riddhi Siddhi Mandal continues its tradition of addressing social issues through live skits—covering topics such as mental health awareness, family bonding, political party-hopping, collapsing city infrastructure, support for transgenders, and verifying fake news. This year too, the Mandal’s eco-friendly Ganesh murti, crafted with natural components, and its live show have been attracting large crowds.

Dinesh Chindarkar (organiser) said, “Every year, we take up a social cause to spread awareness. This year, we felt it was important to sensitise Mumbaikars about how we often take women for granted, without expressing enough gratitude for the value they add to our daily lives. We also have a strong group of women volunteers who support us during Ganesh Utsav, and we wanted to dedicate this year’s initiative to them. It is also the first time ever that a Ganpati Mandal has introduced a live musical drama.”

Kiran Patel (organiser) added, “In our 50th year, we have showcased 11 different roops (forms) of Lord Ganesha across the 11 days, representing his versatile powers. Our idol is made of tissue paper, alum, and natural gum, making it fully eco-friendly. We also conduct visarjan in an artificial pond to avoid polluting the sea. It is high time we all wake up to the need for environmental conservation.”

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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 48^th 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.”

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