The Deshmukh-D'souza Lagna

image courtesy: One India

The Genelia D’souza- Ritesh Deshmukh wedding reception was a Punjabified version of a Marathi lagna… but Genelia’s family stuck to their roots and followed the East Indian customs before the wedding by celebrating ‘Umbrache Paani’ ceremony. East Indians are local Marathi speaking Christians from Mumbai-Vasai-Thane. In the image below you can see Genelia is dressed in a typical East Indian Lugda (Saree) while her father and brother are sporting traditional Koli dress!

Image Courtesy: Mumbai Mirror

सुवर्णलता

80 Songs for 80 years

Mount Mary Jatra... Mumbai and beyond!

Even as thousands of people for all faiths throng the tony suburb of Bandra for the Mount Mary Jatra… very few people are aware of a replica event happening in Haregaon in Ahmednagar District for those who cannot afford to come all they way to the state capital for darshan of their beloved ‘Matmauli’!

One year already!

3M is delighted that his baby (Ek Marathi Manoos) is one year old today...

Guys thanks for all the support!

Marathi Film Festival in Paris

Earlier this year, the Maratha Regiment got the unprecedented honour of leading the Bastille Day Parade in Paris… and now the city is hosting a Festival of Marathi Films! From Sant Tukaram (1936) to Valu (2008), a wide spectrum of films have been compiled for the discerning Parisians…

Finally a Marathi Wedding on 'National TV'

In most TV serials, irrespective of the location, all the weddings are ‘Punjabesque’… but are they just portraying reality? The impact of Yashraj Movies is so high that ‘sangeet ceremonies’ are the new trend in Tamilian weddings... and the only thing Marathi in ‘Rakhi ka Swayamwar’ is inclusion of a few “ghati” delicacies for the guests.

So 3M was pleasantly surprised to see that Balaji Telefilms has tried to portray an authentic Marathi Wedding in its new serial 'Pavitra Rishta'… controversy notwithstanding!

Marathi Melava @ Philadelphia

Every two years, Brihan Maharashtra Mandal arranges a convention for the American Marathi Manoos (AMM) to network… and the current one at Philadelphia has just come to an end. A lot was written in the Marathi Newspapers about how the AMM is trying to connect with his roots… and also of Uddhav’s much publicised appearance at the meet.

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But check out that the GenNext of AMMs is up to in this convention… This article by Anjali Athavaley in Wall Street Journal is truely hilarious! AMM parents are hoping "मराठा (सून/ जावई) तितुका मेळवावा... महाराष्ट्र धर्म वाढवावा !"

Rajsri Shahu Maharaj’s statue unveiled

Pratibha Patil unvield the statue of Rajsri Shahu Maharaj in the Lok Sabha. The late Maharaja of Kolhapur pioneered a lot of welfare concept more than a century ago when they were unheard of in many parts of the world… from widow remarriage and inter-caste marriage and from free education to challenging the Brahmin supremacy in religious rites! But what actually set him apart was the fact that he reserved 50% of the government jobs for the oppressed classes… 80 years before Mandal Commission suggested 'affirmative action'!

No wonder Shahu Maharaj has become a poster boy for Mayawati… she has renamed the Kanpur University and one district after him… an honour that his home state has also not given him!

3M Trivia - Shahu Maharaj is the 3rd Marathi Manoos after Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar whose statue has been installed in the Lok Sabha. Incidently all 3 have contributed immensely in uplifting the downtrodden in India.

Now 90th Marathi Natya Sammelan in America

As San Jose (USA) hosts the first International Marathi Sahitya Sammelan on Valentine’s Day, another equally important event is taking place in Beed in Maharashtra… 89th Marathi Natya Sammelan. Mohan Joshi, noted Marathi actor, is presiding over the event. He revealed that the next Natya Sammelan will be in New Jersey.

Though the response to the event is phenomenal, the culture enthusiasts are miffed with the fact that the venue is being used by all the political parties to campaign for the forthcoming elections.

Marathi Sahitya Sammelan - American Style

With for 4 days to go for the “First International Marathi Sahitya Sammelan”, the Marathi community in San Jose, California is buzzing with activity. With renowned people from the film and music community agreeing to join the event, this will be an event that Marathi Manoos in America will cherish for a long time to come.

This event seems to have cleared a lot of hurdles. If you recall, this sammelan was planned against stiff opposition from a section of “Marathi Literati”… but eventually the ‘backlash’ seems to have melted away! Then came the rumours of recession hitting the event… and 2 days back Dr. Gangadhar Pantavane, the chairperson, voiced his displeasure on Zee 24 Taas about the “uncouth correspondence” by the organizing committee.

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3M hopes that in the final lap the sammelan itself will take place without any glitches!

‘Prati Kolhapur’ – Kore flexes his muscle in Mumbai

Last week, Kolhapur descended on Shivaji Park in Mumbai during an event called ‘Prati Kolhapur’. If the surging crowds (more than 1 Lac visitors on each of the four days) were an indication, the event was a roaring success. Nitin Desai’s magic recreated some of the grand buildings of Kolhapur… From Mahalaxmi temple to New Palace and from Old Palace to a gigantic statue of Mahalaxmi’s consort – Jyotiba… With non stop folk performances, wrestling matches and crisp winter air, it was a spectacle not to be missed! The only sore point in the whole event was the arrangement of stalls… worse than a village fair. The food stalls were filthy… and one had to wade through muck to reach some of them. Those who had come with the expectation of buying Irkal Sarees and famed Kolhapuri jewellery (Saaj, Thushi etc) were left high and dry. Even the famed Kolhapuri chappal stalls were covered in red dust from the cricket ground! The organizers should look into this aspect if they plan to make this a recurring event in the years to come.

Prati Kolhapur can be considered as a show of strength by Vinay Kore, Minister for renewable energy in the current Maharashtra Government (Ranked 18th in MahaPol Powerlist Jan 09). This was an attempt to expand his powerbase beyond South Maharashtra, where his party Jana Surajya Shakti is very powerful. His plan includes bringing together estimated 4.5 Lac Kolhapuris from Mumbai to build a ‘Kolhapur Bhavan’ in the city. 3M won’t be surprised if his party fields a few candidates in Mumbai in the coming elections… probably after having a tie-up with Raj Thackeray’s MNS. Thackeray incidentally gave a fiery speech from the ‘Prati Kolhapur’ dias in support of Vinay Kore.