The childhood Ganpati days were a lot of fun: Vicky Kaushal

You grew up in Mumbai. What are your memories of Ganpati?

As a child, I spent a number of my formative years at our house in Amboli (Mumbai), a Marathi-dominated locality. So, growing up, Ganpati was the most important festival. It also meant the start of the long festive period. I remember the first day would be hectic as you’ve to go for darshan at everyone’s house. Later, when we moved to Lokhandwala, all the building kids would get together to get the Ganpati idol. I’ve experienced everything – right from getting the idol, to the visarjan including dancing on the roads.

This year, things will be quite low-key owing to the pandemic..

By nature, Indians are very ‘social’ people – regardless of festivals or not. Humein bas milne-julne ka mauka chahiye. And what better occasion than a festival for having such special rendezvous? But this year, unfortunately, the pandemic affects the exact same ethos of people getting together. I

am sure it will be a comparatively smaller affair with social distancing measures etc.

Since you are a star now, have things changed vis-à-vis experiencing the festival?

Bachpan ke time jin cheezon ko karne mein mazaa aata tha, woh time ke saath thoda change ho jaati hai, I guess. So, I don’t I miss out on things such as dancing just because I’m now a recognisable face. That [being famous] has never bothered me. I still, at times, go to the local shop to buy things. What has changed is that we’ve become mature. So, we think, and are concerned, about being ecofriendly and excessive noise pollution etc. From inside, I’m still as kicked about Ganpati as I used to be.

What’s the plan this year?

There’ll be a small pooja at home. We’ve not got the Ganpati home. But a Ganpati idol has been placed in my complex, so I’ll go for a quick darshan. I’m sure ek-do jagah Bappa ke darshan honge. But wherever I go, I have to keep people’s comfort in mind, in the wake of the pandemic.