EXPATS ENJOY City’s Festive Mood with ‘Ganesh Walk’

Claire and Mark Edwards from Britain, and Kevin Haritmonds from Indonesia could not hide their happiness when they participated in the ‘Ganesh Walk’ here on Sunday. Pune’s Ganesh festival, which is a matter of pride for the entire country, also has many admirers from foreign countries who can be seen enjoying the festivities with similar fervor and enthusiasm.

For the last six years, Lexagent Expat Relocation and Pune Expat Club have helped and taken the foreigners who migrate to the city and are associated with them on a Ganesh Walk, where they take a tour of the city’s most popular Ganesh Mandals. Along with the five ‘Manache (Revered) Ganpati’ and other famous ones like Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati, and Mandai Ganpati, the tour also covers Pune’s markets and important monuments like Shaniwarwada, which are more colorful than ever during the festive times.

“This Year we took a group of 70 foreign nationals coming from 18 countries like the United Kingdom, France, United States of America, and Canada. We have been organizing the tour for the past six years. The tour not only helps these foreigners connect, but also to know the local region, its culture, and people better, “said Preeti Roongta of Pune Expat Club.

While the group walks around the city taking darshan of the revered Bappa, a guide walks it through the stories, legends related to the festival, and cultural significance of the places. Claire and Mark Edwards, who are here from Great Britain, said they have been living in Pune for over 2.5 years, but have never seen the festival. “We are so glad the Lexagent and Pune Expat Club invited us to be a part of this fantastic experience. The walk was well designed and we learned a lot about the historical importance of this festival,” they said. “The Ganesh festival could be called a beginning of the series of festivities that follow, like Navratri, Dussehra, Diwali and Christmas,” Roongta said.