Three friends from different faiths joined hands to welcome Ganpati Bappa to Dahisar Gaothan, where they reside, this year. The trio—Hitesh Patel, 30, Sohel Malik, 22, and Oswald Gonsalves, 32—took it upon themselves to set up the Morya Mitra Mandal in late July. They then sought the help of about 30 of their friends, who helped them raise donations from locals. 

The friends decided to follow every traditional practice during Shravan such as fasting, refraining from cutting their hair and abstaining from eating non-vegetarian food. The youths have been offering aarti together daily and preparing prasad for devotees.