Govinda ala re, ala re, jara matki sambhaal Brijwaala! As a kid I thought Janmashtmi was that simple. It was about mom fasting, eating yummy mithais, watching colorful troupes and lovely temple visits (that’s more than a day’s full for an NRI kid!)
This Janmashtm,i I was treated to a business called Dahi Handi. As I hopped from one troupe to another in the hope of some jaw dropping pictures, what I got instead was a better understanding into why traffic comes to a halt and the fact that I suck at photography at large!
Much to their amusement I requested a group of boys if I could follow them around for a couple of pics. I was immediately hailed to the status of a reporter and people were extremely welcoming (lil’ did they know that my talent would finally be nothing but ‘ctrl alt del’) As a friend and I followed them around, we broke most signals, were offered vodka, a bright yellow Krishna t-shirt, food and an afternoon of excitement.
With only a couple of pictures, thought I’d share my experience instead. Groups start preparing at least 2 months in advance. The day starts off with various tolees (groups) travelling on bikes and tempos visiting mandals (set ups) organized by political parties all over town. During early parts of the day, tolees travel around offering a namaskar, which basically means they do not break the handi yet, but simply showcase their capability of forming a human pyramid. The tip of the pyramid stands, folds his hands and pays homage to the handi ( symbolic to paying a tribute to Krishna himself) . For each of these namaskars the tolee receives a token amount as cash. The pyramid then crumbles down within seconds and zips off to the next mandal.
To be eligible to break a handi, is another process, and only one tolee qualifies per mandal. So for e.g. the mandal may decide to hang their handi at a particular height and a 7 layer pyramid is required to reach it. The first tolee that manages to form this 7 layered pyramid at one go, qualifies and books the handi. The qualified tolee may then move onto other mandals, either to do a namaskar or claim another handi and return for breaking the big booty at the time assigned by the earlier mandal. Even with the handi booked, the mandal could still be open for other tolees to swing by and offer a namaskar - the cash prize depends on the category still open for namaskars - four layered/ five layered pyramid etc. Apart from these larger institutes there are many smaller set ups which work on a ‘first come- first break basis.’
The interesting but logical bit about the human pyramid is that the youngest and the frailest find themselves on the top. So the handi is actually broken by a little kanhaiya! Looking at the height which these little boys climb too, I almost had my heart in my mouth, but after watching a few pyramids topple I learnt that it is the lower layers that usually get injured. Guys forming the middle part of the pyramid have ropes tightly secured around their shoulder blades. This helps provide a grip for those froming the top layer incase they come tumbling down. The little kid who breaks the handi secures himself with a helmet and tight ropes around his shoulder, just incase he starts falling the others can grab him by his safety device.
The award for breaking handi’s ranges anywhere from Rs. 20,000 to Lakhs. If that doesn’t get you dancing the mood and the peppy numbers being dished out on the loudspeakers surely will. My shoulders, feet and hands rebelled as many a times I had to stop them from joining in with the chorus. Maybe next year yo!
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