Blue Whale Challenge hot topic for Jivant Dekhava

With the

Ganesh Festival

just around the corner, the excitement for pandal hopping has gone up. A stroll during the festival, while watching spectacular and lavish sets with mannequins moving mechanically, telling a story, lights flashing according to the music, is a fascinating experience. But what draws the crowds is the live performances by various amateur artistes.

Although the numbers of mandals with live performances are comparatively less, it has been a huge crowd puller during the festival over the years. Packed in a 10-15-minute performance, the

Jivant Dekhava

(live decoration) has been known for its crisp plots that deal with current issues. It also gives the mandals a chance to keep visitors engaged while providing some food for thought – one of the primary aims of the festival. Apart from the current topics of discussion, historical and mythological story-based live performances are also put up by pandals.

This year, many artistes in the city are coming up with skits for Jivant Dekhava revolving around the

Indo-China

relations and the fatal Blue Whale Challenge

“Majority of teenagers have access to mobile phones nowadays, making them vulnerable to various threats, the Blue Whale Challenge being a recent one,” says Dinesh Bhosale, who has been organising skits for Jivant Dekhava for the past six years. Bhosale says that given the gravity of the subject, they have suggested that mandals host skits around this subject in their pandals.

Apart from this, many mandals are also keen on taking up international issues like the Indo-China border confrontation. “Many mandals have approached us to put up some skit around the Indo-China issue. We are working on plots that will present the topic in simple terms, making visitors understand it. Presently, we are working on a skit about how Chinese products are affecting the country,” informs

Sudhakar Awaghade

, who has been in this field for a decade.

Money matters
- l Budgets start from Rs 70,000 with no upper limit for a 10-day package.
- l Artistes get between Rs 500 and Rs1,500 per day
- l Charges include those of writer, director, sound recording and artistes, etc.
- l Most Jivant Dekhava participants are students.