as the ganapati festival approaches the beats of the dhol are not only making people tap their feet here but abroad as well taking their culture along with them maharatrians who have settled in australia canada and the usa have started dhol pathaks there our pathak has 240 members from various parts of the country over the last five years weve performed at over 100 events including pm narendra modis visit our schedule is packed this year with the upcoming indian independence day parade 10 days of ganesh festival navratri and diwali says vasant madhavi and dr m madhavi founders of the jai bharat dhol tasha pathak usa and many of the pathaks started abroad happen to be branches of popular pune groups citybased pathaks like rudra garjana shivgarjana and garjana help maharashtrians living overseas by sending them instruments practice material and allowing them the use of their group names shivgarjana was the first to start a branch abroad in sydney in 2007 since then there have been a lot of enquiries and pune pathaks have obliged the rudra garjana pathak for instance are present in chicago since last year after the initial response to the pathak we sent more dhols there now the pathak has 20 dhols and seven tashas that are played by around 50 people the pathak is gaining popularity among american citizens as well says tushar mankar from the groupmembers of garjana pathak at perth australiaaustralias garjana pathak who will be performing at the ganapati mandir procession in perth depend on their indian counterparts for practice material we have sent six dhols to perth and practice sessions have begun we send audiovideo clips through messaging apps and they practise by watching them informs rajhans mehendale while vijay salunke of the shivgarjana pathak who are present in australia and canada send cds of their performances to the groups in both countries sometimes we make cds of our performances and practice sessions to send for them to practice or someone coming to pune before the ganesh festival learns the new rhythm and teaches others there he saysbut despite this popularity and requests from other countries pathak members say that starting branches abroad is difficult due to the costs involved vijay adds sending dhols outside the country is costly if we purchase dhols and other materials for rs 2 lakh sending them abroad costs almost double the amount besides the cost there are also local regulations that need to be followed while sending dhols to perth we had to send fibre drum heads instead of the usual hide we are also considering new york since a group there is ready and willing but studying their norms seeking the required permissions and other work will take some time rajhans sharesjai bharat dhol tasha pathak has 30 dhols 12 tashas 50 lezhim 10 pair zhanj 12 flags two abdagiri and more which are stored at its founder vasant madhavis home madhavi also took tremendous efforts to teach dhol tasha lezhim