Every year, Lalbaugcha Raja, the most famous Sarvajanik Ganapati Mandal in Mumbai, attracts some controversy or another. This year was no different. Today, I stumbled across a shocking news article claiming that a Woman was thrashed by lady cops at Lalbaugcha Raja.
The article shocked me because I had an entirely different experience when I visited Lalbaugcha Raja this Saturday (26/09/2015)
To set the record straight, while I am a devotee of Ganapati Bappa, I am no big fan of the Ganapati Festival. The ecological impact of it is against my ideologies. And it is my personal belief that God is omnipresent. I believe that my prayers will reach Bappa, whether I pray to Him at Lalbaug, or at my home. So I have never ever been to Lalbaug. But this year, my wife, a devout believer of Lord Ganesha, really wished to visit Lalbaugcha Raja. And as every married man will tell you, no ideal, however strong, can hold sway against the wishes of one's better half.
So we decided to visit Lalbaug this year. I had already heard the horror stories - long queues, 5 to 8 hours waiting time, hordes of devotees, unruly crowds, arrogant organizers. So I was very apprehensive. Especially because my mother decided to accompany us. She suffers from Arthritis, and I was not sure how she would be able to cope with the long wait and the huge crowds.
We got up at 4:30 am, left home by 6:00 and reached Lalbaug by 7:00. Asking around for the way to the Mukh Darshan Line, we were directed through a cordoned off area by helpful police officers. We were all in a haste to get into the line quickly, and in that haste, my mother stumbled and fell. Before I could even lend her a helping hand, we were quickly surrounded by 3-4 policemen (including lady constables), some fellow devotees and few organizers. With all the helping hands and encouraging words, my mother was soon back on her feet. A policeman vacated his seat and asked my mother to please take some rest. An organizer pointed me to a direction at the back and said they had first aid available there. But my mother would have none of it. Holding her and walking slowly, we joined the Mukh Darshan Line. As we made slow but steady progress, the giant statue of Ganapati Bappa soon came into view, with the morning sun streaming down it's golden rays from above the pandal roof. I am no religious person but it was a sight to behold.
The Mukh Darshan line (or lines, for it was like wave after wave of people) was crowded, but organized and calm. People were taking photographs of Lalbaugcha Raja. And there were shouts of "Ganapati Bappa Morya" every few minutes.
We got the Darshan in 15 minutes flat! A lot of people who visit Lalbaug every year, claim that we were very lucky indeed.
And now when I read the news article today, I wonder what went wrong. I found the policemen and the organizers very cooperative when we visited Lalbaug. Why would they be so rude to this lady?
The video shows only what the police did to the lady. It casts no light on what instigated the police to be so harsh with her. If one reads the article carefully, it clearly states the police version of the story: "The footages which have gone viral show only one side of the story – what happened inside the gate. But, in her attempt to get inside, Goswami misbehaved with those cops. She had been threatening them that she is a black belt in karate and had been abusing the three women constables constantly. So, the three women cops got angry and took her to the police station."
So the woman was rude to the police. But that does not give them the right to man-handle and assault her? As Mugdha Kapoor states in her article "Nothing, absolutely nothing, gives the cop the right to so brutally thrash someone." I would have completely agreed with her, but for my better experience at Lalbaug on Saturday.
Please bear with me for a while and read on, before you troll me. Lets look at it from the point of view of Police and the Organizers.
They are working around the clock, under severe pressure, day in and day out. Their orders are clear. Avoid any mishaps, accidents and threats. Its no small responsibility. The Wikipedia article about Lalbaugcha Raja claims that "over 1.5 million people visit this Ganesh Pandal daily". If this figure is to be believed, it means that on an average, nearly 62500 devotees visit every hour (taking into consideration all 24 hours of the day), i.e. about 1042 devotees every minute, i.e. about 17-18 persons visiting the pandal every second. Considering that it takes about 3-5 seconds to take Bappa's Darshan and move on, the organizers are tasked with moving away 52-86 people every 3-5 seconds. This is no joke. It is an organizational and security nightmare. We are aware that fatal accidents are common due to panic and stampede at pilgrimages and religious places. Happens every year someplace or the other, not only in India but throughout the world. The policemen and the organizers have the massive task of avoiding such a mishap. While we are busy enjoying the festival, these guys are tasked with long and tension-filled duties. Under such pressurizing circumstances, frayed nerves can lead to violent reactions.
That does not give them the right to raise hands on the common man. I agree. But as the article states, the lady misbehaved with the police. The video does not show what the lady said that incited such violent reaction from the police. But the pressure under which they are working, they are bound to snap some time or another. I understand that standing in line for hours and hours, watching VIPs getting preferential treatment, can be a very frustrating ordeal. Which is probably what pushed the poor lady to be rude and abusive with the police constables. But standing guard over such a huge crowd can be a very trying ordeal too. As Lee Child says in Nothing to Lose: "A crowd (big enough)... was the largest animal on the face of the earth. The heaviest, the hardest to control, the hardest to stop". And the police and the organizer have to deal with a massive, sometimes unruly crowd every day for 10 days. Can we claim that we have never snapped like this in crowded local trains or buses? It is human. As human as the lady getting angry after a grueling long wait in the line.
When we visited the pandal, it was not very crowded (comparatively speaking). So the organizers and the police were at their best behaviour. If the crowd is small and manageable, then even these public and voluntary servants will be able to give their best.
I am not condoning the assault done by the Police on the poor lady. But all I am saying is they are human too and such things happen. It is not entirely their mistake. It is also the mistake of so many devotees that visit the pandal every year.
If you are a devotee of Ganapati Bappa, please pardon me for any atheistic comments that follow. But is it really mandatory to visit Lalbaugcha Raja every year? Is it not true that Ganapati Bappa resides in the heart of every true devotee? Then why the insistence on visiting Lalbaugcha Raja every year? If you visited one year, then give it a pass for 2-3 consecutive years. Let other newbee devotees enjoy the Bappa's darshan with lesser hassles and under better conditions. It would be a great act of charity on your part and would really help out your fellow die-hard devotees of Lalbaugcha Raja. It would also help the police and the organizers to better serve and manage the crowd if it is smaller in size. If everyone follows this simple rule, then I hope and feel that Lalbaugcha Raja will not be a center of controversies that it is purported to be every year...
The article shocked me because I had an entirely different experience when I visited Lalbaugcha Raja this Saturday (26/09/2015)
To set the record straight, while I am a devotee of Ganapati Bappa, I am no big fan of the Ganapati Festival. The ecological impact of it is against my ideologies. And it is my personal belief that God is omnipresent. I believe that my prayers will reach Bappa, whether I pray to Him at Lalbaug, or at my home. So I have never ever been to Lalbaug. But this year, my wife, a devout believer of Lord Ganesha, really wished to visit Lalbaugcha Raja. And as every married man will tell you, no ideal, however strong, can hold sway against the wishes of one's better half.
So we decided to visit Lalbaug this year. I had already heard the horror stories - long queues, 5 to 8 hours waiting time, hordes of devotees, unruly crowds, arrogant organizers. So I was very apprehensive. Especially because my mother decided to accompany us. She suffers from Arthritis, and I was not sure how she would be able to cope with the long wait and the huge crowds.
We got up at 4:30 am, left home by 6:00 and reached Lalbaug by 7:00. Asking around for the way to the Mukh Darshan Line, we were directed through a cordoned off area by helpful police officers. We were all in a haste to get into the line quickly, and in that haste, my mother stumbled and fell. Before I could even lend her a helping hand, we were quickly surrounded by 3-4 policemen (including lady constables), some fellow devotees and few organizers. With all the helping hands and encouraging words, my mother was soon back on her feet. A policeman vacated his seat and asked my mother to please take some rest. An organizer pointed me to a direction at the back and said they had first aid available there. But my mother would have none of it. Holding her and walking slowly, we joined the Mukh Darshan Line. As we made slow but steady progress, the giant statue of Ganapati Bappa soon came into view, with the morning sun streaming down it's golden rays from above the pandal roof. I am no religious person but it was a sight to behold.
The Mukh Darshan line (or lines, for it was like wave after wave of people) was crowded, but organized and calm. People were taking photographs of Lalbaugcha Raja. And there were shouts of "Ganapati Bappa Morya" every few minutes.
We got the Darshan in 15 minutes flat! A lot of people who visit Lalbaug every year, claim that we were very lucky indeed.
And now when I read the news article today, I wonder what went wrong. I found the policemen and the organizers very cooperative when we visited Lalbaug. Why would they be so rude to this lady?
The video shows only what the police did to the lady. It casts no light on what instigated the police to be so harsh with her. If one reads the article carefully, it clearly states the police version of the story: "The footages which have gone viral show only one side of the story – what happened inside the gate. But, in her attempt to get inside, Goswami misbehaved with those cops. She had been threatening them that she is a black belt in karate and had been abusing the three women constables constantly. So, the three women cops got angry and took her to the police station."
So the woman was rude to the police. But that does not give them the right to man-handle and assault her? As Mugdha Kapoor states in her article "Nothing, absolutely nothing, gives the cop the right to so brutally thrash someone." I would have completely agreed with her, but for my better experience at Lalbaug on Saturday.
Please bear with me for a while and read on, before you troll me. Lets look at it from the point of view of Police and the Organizers.
They are working around the clock, under severe pressure, day in and day out. Their orders are clear. Avoid any mishaps, accidents and threats. Its no small responsibility. The Wikipedia article about Lalbaugcha Raja claims that "over 1.5 million people visit this Ganesh Pandal daily". If this figure is to be believed, it means that on an average, nearly 62500 devotees visit every hour (taking into consideration all 24 hours of the day), i.e. about 1042 devotees every minute, i.e. about 17-18 persons visiting the pandal every second. Considering that it takes about 3-5 seconds to take Bappa's Darshan and move on, the organizers are tasked with moving away 52-86 people every 3-5 seconds. This is no joke. It is an organizational and security nightmare. We are aware that fatal accidents are common due to panic and stampede at pilgrimages and religious places. Happens every year someplace or the other, not only in India but throughout the world. The policemen and the organizers have the massive task of avoiding such a mishap. While we are busy enjoying the festival, these guys are tasked with long and tension-filled duties. Under such pressurizing circumstances, frayed nerves can lead to violent reactions.
That does not give them the right to raise hands on the common man. I agree. But as the article states, the lady misbehaved with the police. The video does not show what the lady said that incited such violent reaction from the police. But the pressure under which they are working, they are bound to snap some time or another. I understand that standing in line for hours and hours, watching VIPs getting preferential treatment, can be a very frustrating ordeal. Which is probably what pushed the poor lady to be rude and abusive with the police constables. But standing guard over such a huge crowd can be a very trying ordeal too. As Lee Child says in Nothing to Lose: "A crowd (big enough)... was the largest animal on the face of the earth. The heaviest, the hardest to control, the hardest to stop". And the police and the organizer have to deal with a massive, sometimes unruly crowd every day for 10 days. Can we claim that we have never snapped like this in crowded local trains or buses? It is human. As human as the lady getting angry after a grueling long wait in the line.
When we visited the pandal, it was not very crowded (comparatively speaking). So the organizers and the police were at their best behaviour. If the crowd is small and manageable, then even these public and voluntary servants will be able to give their best.
I am not condoning the assault done by the Police on the poor lady. But all I am saying is they are human too and such things happen. It is not entirely their mistake. It is also the mistake of so many devotees that visit the pandal every year.
If you are a devotee of Ganapati Bappa, please pardon me for any atheistic comments that follow. But is it really mandatory to visit Lalbaugcha Raja every year? Is it not true that Ganapati Bappa resides in the heart of every true devotee? Then why the insistence on visiting Lalbaugcha Raja every year? If you visited one year, then give it a pass for 2-3 consecutive years. Let other newbee devotees enjoy the Bappa's darshan with lesser hassles and under better conditions. It would be a great act of charity on your part and would really help out your fellow die-hard devotees of Lalbaugcha Raja. It would also help the police and the organizers to better serve and manage the crowd if it is smaller in size. If everyone follows this simple rule, then I hope and feel that Lalbaugcha Raja will not be a center of controversies that it is purported to be every year...
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