September 3. “Button, have you heard the story about Lord Krishna and the dahi handi?”

“No. Tell me.”

“Krishna Janmashtami is a celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna and the story of the dahi handi is one of bravado shown by young local boys and even girls these days. The event consists of a pot of curd which is hung about 100 feet in the air. Each team has to form a human pyramid to reach the pot while the public attempts to distract them by jeering and throwing water-balloons. The team that succeeds in breaking the pot achieves ‘heroic’ status and some cash. The festival was popularized during the Independence struggle to give the youth a sense of identity and courage to fight the British.”

“How can girls enter this space?”

“Why can’t they?”

“Because this is all about Govinda’s antics and young girls can’t represent Govinda!”

“Have you seen girls in the act?”

“I haven’t seen girls but I’ve seen young boys break dahi handis.”

“What is the highest pyramid till date?”

“I read somewhere that Govindas made pyramids as high as 9 feet this year . The competition in Thane for a 10 feet pyramid had a cash prize of 25 lakhs but one group made a pyramid 9 feet high and finally won a cash prize of 15 lakhs.”