Article about the campaign in Bombay times- 2013

Hello all,

Here's an article that was published in Bombay times (The New BOmbay segment) on page 8 on 14th September 2013. Sadly no mention about the blog which had all the decorations or the website- www.greenbappa.in was given.

We had put in a lot of hard work to give the info in the website, it would have given a surge to the number of visitors on the website. The journalist said that the newspaper policy does not permit them to give contact info. How is a not-for-profit website of a campaign fit in their criteria of not giving the contact that will help commercially? We are not a commercial site anyways. Another jolt was that the article wasnt there in the e-paper of BT in the TOI site as this was only printed in New Bombay therefore it wasnt uploaded.

I really dont know what to do about these journalists anymore. They come during the festival season, speak sweetly about giving details of your campaign. I entertain them just because more people will end up coming on the facebook page and the site/blog. After weeks of following up with them, the article gets printed when the advertisements in the page permits. I see some of the most crucial information missing. Another article was published by a journalist in Hindustan times Mulund edition, which was so badly written that I dont even want to post it here. The journalist gave my contact information in the article. Who gave her the permission to do so?

This is how these journalists work. And this cycle gets repeated all over the next year. Nothing I can do much about. Anyways, here's the article. View the photo in fullscreen so that you can read it. or download it.

Cardboard Ganpati Makhar

Cardboard Makhar for Ganesh Chaturthi.

 Materials required:

1.       Cardboard sheet- There is one type of cardboard called File paper. Use that as it is thin for making the pillars. Rs. 18 X2= Rs.36

2.       A small waste cardboard box for the stand and a big waste cardboard sheet for the Makhar ceiling.

3.       Fevicol - Rs. 30

4.       Ruler

5.       Scissors

6.       Cutter

7.       Pencil and eraser

8.       Decorative paper or handmade paper. Rs. 30-40

9.       Waste newspaper.

10.   Paints for decorating.

11.   Acrylic colour of your choice.  Rs. 18

12.   Painting brush

13.   Small stones to help balance the pillars

       Total cost = Rs. 124

Process:

1.       Take the File paper, divide it into half.

2.       Keep the height as it is, which might be 15 inches and make 8 divisions about 4 cm apart using the ruler. This would be our marking for folding the sheet.

   

3.       Take the help of the ruler and guide the scissor or the cutter along the lines drawn 4 cm apart to make indents. Make sure you don’t slice the file paper fully. We just have to make the indents so that we can fold it. 

4.       Now fold the sheet along the indents. Make sure you don’t break the sheet.

5.       After the Pillar is ready, use fevicol to paste the two parts of the Septagon together. Make another one similarly.

                     

6.       Now take the small cardboard box and place the pillars which are ready on top to see if they will fit into it. Otherwise you will have to get some other bigger box. 

7.       Divide the box into half. Place the pillar on top of it and draw out its edges. Cut the shape drawn using a cutter.

8.       Do this for both boxes.

9.       Now fit the pillars inside the boxes.

         

10.       First make an estimate of the length of the makhar ceiling that you are going to make. Make any design you wish for the makhar on a sheet of newspaper, make only half of it. Cut it. 

1.       Now take the bigger waste cardboard sheet.  Make an estimate of whether the stencil of the makhar is going to fit on both side of the cardboard. Trace the design on one half of the cardboard.  Invert the design and trace it on the other side. It has to be an exact match. 

12.       Cut the design. Now keep the cardboard cutout on the decorative paper. Trace it. Cut the paper and paste it on the cardboard using fevicol. 

       

13.       Now take the waste scrap from the decorative paper, cut a design out of it which can be pasted on the pillars. Fold it in such a way that only the edge of the design can be stuck to the pillar. Use fevicol to stick it.

14.       If you wish, draw some designs on the pillars, paint it.

15.       Make some more designs from the scrap paper, stick it on the pillars. (On hindsight, take another sheet of decorative paper, stick it to the pillars entirely, cover the pillars with the paper. Then make designs on them.)

16.       Use all the waste scrap of decorative paper and stick it on the boxes stuck to the pillars at the bottom. Cover them completely. Its ok if they look untidy in the beginning, use scissors to give shape and flatten the small bits. 

                                      

                     

17.        Now draw any design you like on the makhar ceiling using a pencil. You can even make a stencil and then paint the designs on the makhar instead of using the pencil.

18.       Use acrylic colour to paint the design.

19.       The makhar ceiling is now ready.

20. Take the pillars, keep the makhar ceiling on the pillars to estimate the place where it will fit and make a small cut on the front side of the pillar to insert the makhar edge in it.

21.       Do this on both pillars and insert the makhar edge in the pillars.

22.  Now the decoration is ready. After the makhar ceiling is inserted, the pillars may wobble. Put some stones in the boxes in the bottom of the pillars to give it strength.

23.       Now you can put your Ganesha in the decoration. 

Tip: Put the Ganesha on inside the Makhar only after the Puja is complete. 

                                               
                                             

See the second design for our eco-friendly decorations we made in 2013 here 

9 Tips to make your Ganesha Green

Want to celebrate Ganeshotsav but don’t want to harm the environment? Here are tips for you!

1. Green Idol: Do not buy Ganesh idols made from PoP (Plaster of Paris) instead look for idols made from Paper Mache, clay or install a metal idol.
2. Green paint: While choosing a clay model, make sure that the colors used on it are eco friendly and do not contain metallic compounds which can be poisonous for the aquatic life.
3. Smaller Size: Reduce the size of the ganesh idol you bring home, this will reduce the harm caused by its immersion.

4. Green Decorations: Instead of going for decoration made from thermocol, use innovative ideas for  green decorations like colorful flowers, lights, cloth drapes.
5. Simple Celebrations: Go for a simple celebration which keeps the essence of the festival alive along with the traditional and religious aspects of it.
6. Green Immersions: On the day of immersion, immerse your idols at artificial ponds in your area or have a symbolic immersion at home; do not immerse them in rivers, lakes or sea.
7. Disposing Waste: Do not throw the flowers, garlands in the water while immersion, dispose them in a paper bag in the nirmalya or waste bins installed by the municipality.
8. No nuisance, please: Also while you take your idol for immersion, avoid using bands or huge speakers which causes nuisance to young and old alike.
9. Common Celebration: Talk to your family and friends and help reduce the number of idols immersed by having a common Ganesh idol. This will not only reduce the strain on environment but also increase the joy of the festival. 

Green Bappa is here!

'Green Bappa' is the name we zeroed on this year for our eco-friendly ganesh utsav activities this year. And the sole activity we focused this year was the http://www.greenbappa.com/ website. Since 2009 TWIGG (Together We Initiate a Green Globe) and friends are working for creating awareness about impact of Ganesh chaturthi celebrations on the environment. We previously have conducted workshops on making ganesh idols, exhibitions of different kinds of idols and decorations to create awareness. This year we decided to reach more people through our online campaign.

We have worked hard for three months to conceptualise and collect the information for the website. Till now we have received quite a few good reviews on the look of the website which is attractive. There are many aspects of the eco-friendly ways to celebrate Ganesha chaturthi, we have mentioned like making eco-friendly decorations at home, or places to buy idols from. We have provided a list of locations that sell eco-friendly idols and decorations. There is also a video we created showing how to create shadu idol at home.

We still have many things which we would like to add in the website to make it more user friendly but it is taking time..Since the time the website is online, we are recieving mails from people who read about the information and would like to help us. It is really a heartening feeling seems like all the hardwork is worth the effort.

That's it for now...

Green Bappa Morya!