Dahi Handi returns today after 2 yrs; overwhelming response, say organisers

The Jai Jawan Govinda Pathak from Mumbai, which holds the Guinness world record for forming a 43.79 feet tall human pyramid in 2012, said it hopes to set a new record while participating in the Dahi Handi event organised by Sanskriti Yuva Pratishantan mandal in Thane. David Fernandez (44), the vice-captain of the mandal, said, “Due to the pandemic, some Govindas had gained weight and have been repositioned after a fitness test. We have set sights on breaking our record and will try to make a 10-tier human pyramid this year. All safety measures have been taken and our 600 players are ready.”

Purvesh Sarnaik, son of MLA Pratap Sarnaik, from Sanskriti Yuva Pratishantan mandal which will organise another Dahi Handi event, said, “The response is overwhelming. Over 234 mandals have registered and the figure will cross 300. At least 8 mandals will try to form a nine-tier human pyramid. We are taking all safety measures.” Another person from the mandal said they have set aside a prize money Rs 21 lakh for the mandal as it aims to create a new record of a 10-tier human pyramid.

Students celebrate Janmashtami at a Navi Mumbai school on Thursday. Narendra Vaskar

Santosh Pandey, a BJP worker and organiser of a Dahi Handi event in Worli’s Jambori Maidan, said, “Over 200 mandals will be participating in the Dahi Handi. We have kept Rs 1 lakh as the prize money.”

Mithun Sardal from Prem Nagar Chunabhatti sports mandal, a group of 300 Govindas, said, “Some of our Govindas were left out due to weight issues because of the two-year gap. But we are well prepared.” Apart from Worli, an eight-tier human pyramid will be attempted by mandals near Sena Bhavan in Dadar (West) and in Naigaon at Dadar (east).

The mandals have requested the organisers to help them participate in more Dahi Handis. Vivek Nakti (38), the coach of Yash Govinda Pathak in Wadala which forms an eight-tier human pyramid, said, “Weight gain is the only issue we faced due to the pandemic but we did a lot of social activities in these two years and bonded well. My only request is that the organisers treat us with respect and do not keep us waiting.”

Nakti said the money earned from Dahi Handi events is used by the mandal for social activities and involves months of practice and hard work.

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Arun Patil (55), a senior leader of the Dahi Handi Samanvay Samiti, Maharashtra, which was formed to fight a court case against restrictions imposed on the event a few years ago, said he is very happy that the government has declared Dahi Handi as a sport. Patil said, “I am distributing 70,000 T-shirts we got through CM Eknath Shinde sir to Govindas.” Patil, who coaches the Mazgaon Dakshin Vibhag Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav Mandal, which has 500 members, said, “We have prepared over the last 45 days. We will try to break our record of an eight-tier pyramid and will break as many dahi handis as possible.”

Sushil Diwakar, organiser of another event on Mira Road, near Bhaktivedanta hospital, said, “About 50 mandals are participating in the Dahi Handi that we have organised. Ours has a prize money of Rs 5 lakh. There are two to three more mandals in Mira- Bhayandar and the response has been good.”