Sonalee Kulkarni: I feel Ganeshotsav is a universal, multicultural festival

It’s been a few years since Sonalee Kulkarni and her brother Atul have been making Ganpati idols for the Ganeshotsav celebration at their home. But the tradition of welcoming Bappa home every year dates back to more than 60 years for them. “During my father’s childhood, they would install the Ganpati idol at their farm in Hingoli district. Then, after my dad joined the army and was posted in Pune, the family started celebrating the festival here,” shares Sonali, adding, “And since the last 6-7 years, my brother and I have been creating the Bappa idol at home.”

This year, the idol and decoration at the Kulkarni house is nature-themed, with the idol representing Lord Ganesh emerging from an elephant’s trunk. Sonalee shares, “The idol is made using shaadu maati and our decor is eco-friendly. Generally, we start sculpting the idol well in advance, but this year Atul and I were both travelling and got only 3-4 days to create it. But we’re happy to have pulled it off.” And will her husband, Kunal Benodekar, be joining them in the celebrations, we ask. To that, Sonalee replies, “He is overseas, but he has told me that he will make it this time. Hopefully he will be here on the weekend.”

Ganpati Bappa is called a patron of arts and science. Sonalee says that in that aspect, Ganeshotsav is all the more special for artistes. “I started performing on stage during Ganeshotsav and Ganpati Bappa has a big hand in bringing me where I am today,” she says, adding, “For all artistes, this celebration is very important. At the same time, I feel that Ganeshotsav today has become a universal festival. It is multicultural, not bound by any language and something that every person happily becomes a part of. In fact, even my maasi hosts Bappa at their home in Punjab.”

While the Jhimma actress makes a point to meet her family and friends during festivals, she misses the joint celebrations from her childhood. “As a kid, I would look forward to Ganeshotsav because the extended family would celebrate it together. Then, all of us cousins would step out. We used to stay in Dehu Cantonment then and would go to the Dehu market. There used to be something called a bhoot bangla setup at some pandals which we kids would absolutely love experiencing. Pandal-hopping, dekhavas; these are some of the things I miss now,” says Sonalee. Among other things she looks forward to during Ganeshotsav is a visit to the Maanache Ganpati in Pune and the Lalbaugcha Raja in Mumbai.