Happy Gudi Padwa and New Year to one and all

I like Gudi Padwa. The Maharashtrian New Year falls today. I grew up in a middle-class Maharashtrian neighborhood. Where festivals were more of a public celebration than a religious occasion. And Gudi Padwa, a most auspicious day in the Hindu calendar, was one of them. On windows outside their houses, my neighbors hoisted traditional ‘Gudis’. You know, a bright cloth with zari work tied to the tip of a long bamboo stick with a small copper pot inverted on top and a marigold garland with neem leaves trailing below? It’s meant to ward off evil and invite good luck and prosperity. I would wait for the knock on my door. Another tradition. My friendly neighbors, their smiles in place, holding plates of Puranpoli and Shrikhand Puri. Fragrant and flavorsome Maharashtrian Gudi Padwa delicacies. I had already heard the women in the kitchen. I smelled hot ghee in the air, the aroma of the ‘poli’ being rolled out with chana dal, flour, cardamom, and jaggery, and puris being fried in oil for the creamy Shrikhand made of curd hung overnight that’s flavored by cardamom and since it’s in season, mango also. Happy Gudi Padwa to one and all. And a peaceful and blessed Cheti Chand, Ugadi, Yugadi, Navreh, Bihu, Putuhandu, Vishu, Samvatsar Padvo, Naba Barsha, Sajibu Cheiraoba to everybody else celebrating New Year across India.

About Mark Manuel

The above thoughts/content has been proudly copied from the wall of Sir Mark Manuel. Being interviewing almost every role model of this country and going stronger each day. Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer, and columnist.

With over three decades of journalism in leading publications. This includes the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is famous for his brilliant pen interviews. He himself is a TEDx speaker.

Further

His interviews have been featured in several leading media houses. They include the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC, and Network 18. Almost every famous person has been interviewed by him in the country from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali. His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! It is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime. And in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat.

Several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. Amitabh Bachchan wrote the forward in a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work.

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