With Janmashtami around the corner, August 29, the city is predictably full of banners announcing dahi handis. Many of these run into substantial sums --lakhs of rupees. Mandals are in overdrive and dahi handi practice sessions are in full swing across all corners of the city. While breaking the handi is a tradition we have seen recent deviations -- like girls now having pyramids of their own and breaking the handi in an all girls group. Even the advent of big money is a fairly recent phenomenon.

While one has no quibble with that, it is important to see that mandals in their zeal to set new records and outdo each other by adding layers to pyramids, concentrate on the safety aspect.