‘Don’t get tempted by prize money, keep safety in mind’

While the city revels in the Janmashtami festivities today, the Bhuvads from Dadar will be mourning the death of a dear one. Praveen Bhuvad was 19 when he died in a dahi handi mishap at Boiwada in 2009. Since then, his brother Sachin (27) has distanced himself from all Janmashtami celebrations, even though he was an active participant for almost 10 years.

"Praveen was one of the most agile players, which is why he was asked to climb to the top. With the amount of practice we did, we could never imagine that an accident like this could have happened. I was standing at the lower tier as Praveen fell from the fifth," Sachin recalled.

Praveen was at a height of almost 30 feet when he lost balance and fell off the human pyramid. He suffered severe head injuries and was rushed to KEM Hospital. After being in coma for five days he succumbed to his injuries.

"Those five days were the worst for me and my family. My mother, who was always supportive of our enthusiasm, now does not want anything to do with the festival. I also realised what a life-threatening game this can be, especially when such huge cash prizes are involved," Sachin said.

Navtarun Mitra Mandal, the association Praveen was a part of, discontinued performing dahi handi festivities after his death. In fact, the association only has one such event in his memory now.

"Praveen was one of the most talented and enthusiastic participants in our troupe. After his death, we stopped taking our team to other places and only have one event at Boiwada in his memory. The winning trophy has a photo of Praveen printed on it," said Ganesh Gajamal of the Navtarun Mitra Mandal.

Sachin appealed to all participants of the dahi handi events not to get tempted by the prize money and keep their safety in mind. "We received around Rs 1 lakh as ex gratia after Praveen died but that is not going to bring my brother back. People should not get lured by the money and realise that at the end of the day, people's lives are at stake," he said.

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