It's the start of the Festival Season here in India. For the next several months there will be multiple important festivals that will be celebrated. The first of them is Ganesh Chathurti -- a celebration of Ganesha, the Elephant God.
8th Crossing without traffic
Official start of Ganesh Chatuhurti was September 19th. But the 18th was a big day in terms of preparing for it. I went up to 8th Crossing (a big shopping street) to get some fresh vegetables and found that a few blocks had been closed to traffic and the vendors were lined up 3 deep on the road.
They were selling everything from fruit and veggies to ornamental palm fruit, flowers, lei (both flower and leaf), Ganesha idols, clothing, rangoli makers, and anything else you might want to buy.