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GANESH PANDALS HIJACKED BY ADANI, AMBANI
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GANESH PANDALS HIJACKED BY ADANI, AMBANI

Sept 19- Sept 25, 2026, Stray Thoughts September 18, 2026 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when Mumbai’s biggest traditional Ganesh mandals were hijacked by the Adanis and the Ambanis. For a Saturday following the week when the government of India agreed UPI American payment gateway levying charges for transactions in India. For a Saturday following the week when we discovered painfully that online shopping is much cheaper than actually going to shop at a retail outlet. For a Saturday following the week when we learned about the massive one month long celebration being planned for Narendra Modi’s 76th birthday.

GANESH MANDALS TAKEOVER
AND a few stray thoughts on Mumbai’s biggest traditional Ganesh mandals being hijacked by the Adani and Ambani families. The takeover of the Lal Bagh Raja happened about two years ago when Anant Ambani became the principal donor to the mandal. Originally, the Lal Bagh Raja was put up by grateful mill workers and fisher folk when they got an alternative site for the chawl that was demolished.
 Over the years the Lal Bagh Raja mandal became the richest and the biggest mandal in Mumbai. Filmstars competed with each other for a darshan of the Lal Bagh Raja located in the former mill-workers textile hub of Parel. The mills, of course, have all disappeared, leading to 10- and 15-story very posh residential tower blocks. The whole area is now referred to as Upper Worli and not Parel. Since the Ambani takeover, the Lal Bagh Raja has been weighed down with gold jewelry. Anant Ambani, the elephant man of Vantara fame, reportedly gifted a Rs20 crore crown to the Lal Bagh Raja. Anant Ambani has also paid for the pandal, decorations and the cooling systems in the sprawling pandal. But ordinary worshipers have to spend hours in long queues behind steel barricades to get a darshan.
However, VIPs who got immediate access to darshan included the American ambassador to India Sergio Gor and Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, they were among those who visited the Lal Bagh Raja.
The Chintamani Mandal in neighboring Chinchpokli has been taken over by Gautam Adani and family. There are images on social media showing Gautam Adani whispering into the ears of Mushak If you want to approach Lord Ganesh for any favors, you have to go through the Mushak (mouse). Besides the takeover of the Lalbagh Raja the Ambanis also had their own Ganesh festival at Antila, the family mansion sited at Altamount road, Cumballa hill. There were not surprisingly, Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan joining in during the puja at Antila.
In Goa also, the Chavath became a show of strength between candidates aspiring for tickets. In Fatorda, there was a war between Vijai Sardesai’s Ganesh mandal and that of the BJP president Damu Naik. Among the visitors to Vijai Sardesai’s Ganapati were AAP’s convenor Arvind Kejriwal. In Curchorem, the sacked Congress president Amit Patkar had a huge Ganesh celebration. The Ganesh pandal I enjoyed the most was at Aivao village where our Girl Friday of several decades was celebrating Lord Ganesh in her humble home.

UPI PAYMENT GATEWAY
AND a few stray thoughts on the Government of India agreeing to permit Unified Payments Interface (UPI), an American payment gateway levying charges for transactions in India. Both PhonePe and Google Pay and all of the payment gateways in India, are linked to the UPI. So far, the Modi government has resisted the demands for levying a charge by UPI on transactions. Indeed, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have accused Narendra Modi of yielding to pressure from Donald Trump. Effective October 15, 2026 if you make a payment to any merchant whether it is Swiggy or Amazon or Flipkart, above Rs2,000 — there will be a charge of 0.4%. This will not apply to person-to-person transfers. Small merchants and transactions up to Rs 2,000 per transaction will not attract the merchant demand receipt.

The maximum fee for transactions up to Rs 1 lakh has been kept at Rs300. The exemption are payment for railway tickets, hospitals schools charities and petrol pumps. While the Aam Aadmi will have to pay 0.5% on every single transaction the government exempted itself from the hidden tax. Though in theory the Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) or UPI is to be borne by the merchant it is inevitable that it will passed on to the consumer. There will be a flat rate of Rs5 for every transaction above Rs2,000 on railway booking telecom including recharging your mobile purchase of petrol, electricity and water bills. Even your investment in mutual funds will attract 0.02% MDR. The amount may appear small but considering very household makes dozens of transaction every day it will increase the cost of everything and anything. This is similar to the GST which peaches you every time you purchase anything.

ONLINE SHOPPING BLUES
AND a few stray thoughts on our painful discovery that online shopping is cheaper than actually going to a retail outlet to shop in person. On Tuesday, September 15, I went to the only Bata outlet at 18, June Road. The up market Bata showroom has salesgirls in bright red Bata T-shirts, skin tight jeans and Bata sneakers. The migrant staff spoke no Konkani and were uniformly rude.
 I had to try on a pair of the Power brand so called “Broad Toe” pair of shoes myself without anyone offering any help. Unlike in the good old day where a sales person would bring a small stool and help you put on the shoes for a fitting and make you walk to check out for comfort level. I managed to do it all myself and even walk a few steps. The pair of footwear seemed comfortable till I asked what the price is and dropped the idea of purchasing it, after the Red Riding Hood salesperson told me the price was Rs2,999 plus GST. I was a bit short of cash and learned later the same online version of shoes is being marketed at a discounted Rs 1,200.
I went on to check the prices of the premium brands like Nike and Reebok. They are all Rs5,000 plus, plus. Never mind, there are lot of nakli Reeboks and Nike shoes available in the Panjim Market. Not only shoes, but Nike T-shirts, track pants, and other merchandise. Social media is full of ortho designer products marketed by Freedo. The Freedo range includes their broad toe sky walker which are competitively priced at Rs2,400 and is available at a discounted price for
Rs1,400. Online brands offer you discounts of as much as 70%. The Sky Walker shoes claims to have a wide toes box soft and flexible upper and a lightweight sole which does not put pressure over bunion and hammer toes. They claim to have enough depth for using them with foot-alignment socks.
The problem is that with online shopping, you are not sure what you actually get. I discovered that when I ordered a lot of ortho aids for a fractured ankle, and was totally disappointed with the quality and design of the products.

MODI 76TH BIRTHDAY
AND a few stray thoughts on the gala one-month-long celebration being planned for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday celebrations. Narendra Modi turns 76 on September 17, 2026. Modi himself had demanded that senior BJP leaders like LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Sushma Swaraj should retire when they reached the age of 75. But Modi does not show any sign of going into “vanwas” mode. His 76th birthday also coincides with his silver jubilee as prime minister.
The BJP has organized a mega celebration called Seva Pankhwada which will be conducted from September 17 to October 2. It will feature blood donation, tree planting and health camps. The BJP obviously considers Narendra Modi as the latest avatar of Lord Vishnu. The BJP has called on all citizens of India to observe September 17 as “Arshirvad ka Din” and light a lamp in every home. The BJP organisers claim that 1.25 lakh elected representatives from the Panchayat level to Parliament will take part in a mass singing of Vande Mataram.
In West Bengal, 17.5 lakh beneficiaries of the Anapurna scheme will be addressed by Modi through video conference. We are pleased to suggest that a 100 kg millet cake should be prepared and presented to Narendra Modi on his birthday.

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