mumbai a ganeshotsav mandal in vasai has made it a practice to save round the year for the elephant gods annual visit each of the 3540 members of the shiv seva mitra mandal in zenda bazaar vasaigaon contributes rs 10 every day 365 days of a year the mandal has adopted this smart method to beat inflation and do the puja without taking any donation or putting up banners or posters the idea struck local tailor dhiraj waghela a decade ago when he saw that collection of funds several times forcibly had commercialized the festival i was confident a celebration was possible without having to go doortodoor to demand vargani donation said waghela the idea paid off members try and contribute cash as and when they get it while they aim to meet their annual contribution of rs 3650 a few fall short while many manage to more than double their contribution last year a real estate agent did good business and contributed rs 10000 to the mandal some months when business is good a few vegetable vendors are happy to contribute rs 50 a day housewives save from their monthly household budget students contribute from their pocket money and at times have just rs 5 to donate even a re 1 contribution is welcome our aim is to not make the festival commercial said waghela the mandal has managed to keep out posters and banners political parties local businessmen and advertisers approach us with money but when we say no to publicity they never return said waghela most arrangements are handled by members themselves this year we got the ganesh idol from parelbased sculptor vijay katu he has charged us only rs 55000 said waghela adding it would have cost another mandal more than a lakh