VASCO
With just a few days to go for Diwali, lanes of the port town that were busy with kids, young and old trying to make an effigy of Narkasura had to face the wrath of the rain .
Ashwit Morajkar from Mestawada who is a part of the group that makes Narkasura effigies every year said that these effigies are erected, stuffed with firecrackers, and burnt at dawn to mark Krishna's slaying of Asura king and the preparations begin well in advance.
"We as a group plan innovative concepts and share the work of sourcing funds and material for building the effigies that consume most of our evening hours ," said Morajkar.
"The rains have dampened the effigy but not the spirit of our team. We had covers but still a part of it is wet and damaged. The power cut after rains makes our task worse as we cannot work in the dark, " added Morajkar.
Another group member Naresh Naik said the effigy is a metal skeleton, which is rolled with stacks of old newspapers and dry grass, so that during wee hours of Diwali, it can be set ablaze easily.
"Several kilos of newspapers goes into making of gigantic effigy. We go around the locality requesting people to contribute in the form of newspapers and for the last 10 days, we have worked overtime, hardly slept for two-three hours a day. Rains have spoilt our efforts and the papers have peeled off besides making the grass inside the effigy completely wet," Naik said.
The city of Vasco itself will have around 30 small and big Narakasura effigies, sometimes rubbing shoulders with each other in many localities. Many of these huge effigies will also be participating in the Narkasura competition to be held on the eve of Diwali.
