At 13, a hundred 'green' Ganesh idols for free

All of 13, Nigdi lad Viraj Ghapchoop, has created 100 eco-friendly Ganesh idols worth Rs5,000 from his pocket money. He has also decided to offer them for free to people — unless, of course, people donate money willingly for his eco-friendly initiative.

Viraj has crafted each idol meticulously by using eco-friendly materials such as clay (shadu), natural colours like lime, yellow and red clay, alta, abir (black) and haldi. A student of Jnana Prabhodini Navnagar Vidyalaya in Nigdi, the idea of the project occurred to Viraj when he could not find eco-friendly idols easily.

Inspired by the historical paintings in Ajanta and Ellora caves, he has worked very hard to give his idols a good finish by rubbing them with a soft cloth.

Viraj has also appealed to citizens not to immerse idols in rivers or lakes, but in a bucket, and return the clay to him for recycling. Inspired by water activist, Rajendra Singh, who has asked people to respect river waters, Viraj said it was important not to immerse idols in the river.

According to Viraj's father, Dinesh, Viraj did not want to sell his idols. "People can donate money. He intends using the funds to make many more clay idols next year,'' Ghapchoop said.

Viraj can be contacted at Anant Bungalow, Dhaneshwar Temple Road (near Morya Gosavi temple), Chinchwadgaon. Telephone: 27614194.