MM : Ganpati – Waste Wizard turns discarded stuff into Ganpatis : Sept 21, 2007
Waste Wizard turns discarded stuff into Ganpatis
NAVEETA D SINGH
T he Ganpati festival going on at Milan Subway has a unique exhibition
of Ganeshas near a residential building in the locality.
Venkatraman Iyer, who lives at Anu Society, Milan Subway Santacruz (W),
has made nearly 20 kinds of Ganpatis from waste material like oil cans,
Pepsi bottles and even tennis ball boxes for the makeshift exhibition.
Iyer, 66, who is a mechanical engineer and a tennis coach, made these
Ganeshas a week before the festival. “I bought these cans and bottles from
the local scrap dealers,” said Iyer, who always carries a scissor and a
black sketch pen in case an impromptu stroke of art is needed somewhere.
Displayed on Iyer’s bicycle at the entrance gate of his building are
Ganeshas of all colours and forms. One can see a bright yellow, green or
even saffron Ganesha made of a 5-litre oil can. A cola bottle takes the form
of a cute Ganpati. Another idol made of an old lemonade bottle looks like it
is made of crystal.
IDOLS WITH A SOCIAL MESSAGE
The idols also carry social messages related to global warming, harmful
effects of gutkha, smoking. Iyer holds a place in Limca book of Records,
2004, for being a Waste Wizard (who makes useful things out of waste).
Iyer, who likes to call himself an environmentalist, uses his bicycle to
commute within 5 km of his residence to save fuel. And no, he doesn’t want
to immerse these cute Ganeshas; he will rather donate them to the
Maharashtra Nature Park Museum at Mahim.
V Iyer has displayed Ganpatis made of plastic cans and other kinds of waste
on his bicycle near the entrance gates of the building he lives in. His cute
Ganpatis are of all shapes and sizes