For 20 years, the Jadhav family has been booking room number 106 at a hotel near Alka talkies during visarjan, to get an unobstructed view of the various Ganpati idols as the city bids them adieu until their much-awaited return next year
Tushar Hotel
For the last two decades, the Jadhav family has been booking a specific room in Tushar Hotel to witness the visarjan processions of the five most popular Ganpati idols in the city.
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VANTAGE POINT: Rooms at the hotel offer an unobstructed view of Alka talkies, where processions culminate before the actual visarjan in the Mutha River. Pic/Shashank Sane
Being the only hotel on Lakshmi Road that faces Tilak Chowk near Alka talkies, the rooms in the hotel give a perfect view of the visarjan processions that culminate at the talkies, before the idols are taken for immersion in the Mutha River.
“We have been booking room no 106 in Tushar hotel for the past 20 years to see the visarjans,” said Leena Jadhav, a housewife. She added, “Considering the huge crowd that gathers for the processions, our children and relatives prefer to see them from the comfort and safety of the hotel room.”
Before checking out, the Jadhavs book the same room for next year’s visarjan in advance, despite the room tariff going up to nearly R3,000 against the R1,500 that is charged on a normal day.
Justifying the price rise during visarjan, the hotel manager said, “We charge the same rate. As per our rules, only one extra person is allowed per room comprising a double bed. But, when a family makes the booking, they invite their relatives to the same room. So, as per the rules, we charge R250 for every extra person.”
Like the Jadhavs, the Pathak family has been booking room number 105 at the hotel for several years now. Shradha Pathak told this paper, “We immerse our idol early in the morning and reach the hotel to see the dhol pathaks and the decorations of the renowned mandals.”
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