Urbanization
Course By: Prasad Shetty
Site: M.G. Road, Kandivali West

Immersion: The act of ‘letting go’

​

The piece of Coconut and the flowers were touched to God's feet. The child was wondering whether the temple offerings will be dumped in the dustbin or not. “Think of any waterbody that comes in our way while going back home. We will keep near it. The offerings to God cannot go in a dustbin. God may punish you.” answered his mother. Both of them started walking ahead till they reached the pedestrian way over the Poinsar river where the child stumbled upon a basket of cooked rice lying near to the parapet. They were alerted which made them realise that they were crossing a water body. The child, with a buzzing mind, questioned the practice of disposing of temple offerings near a waterbody. “It is the act of letting go. You let go of the temple offerings and food near a waterbody, with an expectation that the offerings will be consumed by someone. It can be the organisms in the water, the birds around or these homeless people around after they wake up. Maybe a waterfront which organises the temple waste and allows the people to go down and engage with the river water flowing below would be helpful.”  responded Mother. “Can the waterfront be a floating one? Like the system of floating rafts held by thick ropes used for Ganesh Visarjan in the neighbouring fishing community village. Can the materials used by the villagers that we saw while crossing the village market like the Water tanks, Ropes, Fishing nets, grills, thatch and the other biodegradable objects be used for building the waterfront?” continued the child with his questions.