When sago seeds sprout philosophy

For the last 50 years, artist Mohankumar Dodecha has been making rangolis dedicated to Mumbai's favourite diety, Ganpati. The designs - made using only sago - have not just brought him good luck, but also provided him with a belief system

It's been almost a month since a room in the office of M Khatau & Co, in suburban Mumbai, has been cleared to accommodate an 11 ft x 7 ft rangoli.

The rangoli is of the Ganpati idol in the Siddhivinayak Temple, in Prabhadevi, and takes up three quarters of the room.
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Packets of sago (sabudana) grains in various colours fill the rest of the space. In one corner, a music system plays old Hindi songs.


Mohan Kumar Dodecha works on the sago rangoli.

Artist Mohankumar Dodecha sits surrounded by packets of sago, contemplating where to place the next grain. Having made sago rangolis for the past 50 years, creating designs comes easily to Doecha. Yet his art is very different from the rangolis that are made from powder.

It is the right placement of each grain that makes a perfect rangoli, he says. "Just like my place in society -- as a father, brother, son -- cannot be changed, each grain of sago justifies the entire design.

Even if one grain is disturbed, or not placed properly, it disturbs me," says Dodecha, who spends 18 hours a day, for an entire month, to complete the rangoli. Friends Dayaram Hindisota and Bhupesh Joshi, have continued to assist him in the making of the rangoli for over four decades now.

Dodecha has recently been included in the Guinness Book of World Records for using sago as a medium to create rangoli for the longest time.

He clearly remembers the first time a friend suggested he use food grains as a medium. "In 1960, someone had made a rangoli, using different food grains and I thought that was a good idea.

But finding the right shade of red in food grains was becoming difficult, which is when my brother suggested I add colour to sago.

The following year, I decided to stick to using only sago as it takes on colour easily," explains the artist.

For 25 years, Ramon Magsaysay Award and Padma Vibhushan awardee and social reformer the late Pandurang Shastri Athavale had unveiled the rangolis.

The creations started receiving attention from devotees too. Every year, hundreds of people line up to pay respect to the image of Lord Ganesh.

Dodecha, however, is very clear, "People come here to pay their respects, but this is essentially a very personal project.

It is a selfish deed," he says matter-of-factly, adding, "Ganpati has given me friends who have stayed with me for so many years as well as a healthy and happy family. If this is not selfish, what is?"

Dodecha has also made several murals inspired by Lord Ganesh over the years, which will be on display at an exhibition from September 18 to October 3, 10 am to 10 pm. At: 4-A Umiya Bhavan, opposite Vardhman Nagar, Dr RP Road, Mulund (W).