My lord, Ganesha!!!

                    Come September and the Ganesh festival is here upon is in all its glory, colors, festivity and noise. Every home eagerly awaits their favourite Lord's arrival, preparing for days to welcome this 'most privileged' guest, who is omnipresent in homes of millions who believe in His power and blessings and wait to 'officially' bring him in idol form for those special days that fall in the month of Bhadrapad, which in English calendar is around August/September. These magical ten days are filled with so much joy and happiness that all negativity in the weather fades away, there is bonhomie, laughter, reunions and repairs of broken relationships and hearts. Friends and relatives gather leaving their all-important routine on the back-burner and joining in the aratis and prasad rituals, making music in unison that percolates through the walls and winds about the blessed house.

                     My memories of Ganesh festival are a treasure in my childhood chest that has flown over my years of growing up and growing out of my house, getting carried into my abode that I eventually built with my husband and children. The month of August came with rains slowing down their feverish pace of June and July, falling in a lazy pace on lush green fields and mountains, bubbling brooks and overflowing rivers, intermingling  with the warm,mild, mellow yet bright yellow rays of the Sun. The abundance of nature's bounty filled every mountain, every forest, every garden, every branch hungry for the myrrh after the scorching heat of summers. The large brown swathes of dry crusted earth smiled with relief and joy as the green life engulfed and caressed the dried broken heart. The air sang songs of rebirth and joy as it blew through parched homes bringing with it hope and relief all over again.

                     My home too filled with untold anticipation of festivities to come. The groceries and the sugar bags that got stocked in the store house heralded the beginning of months of joyous occasions that would be now filled with sweets and savories that dreams are made of. The main excitement was ofcourse the arrival of our very own, very favourite and very dear Lord Ganesha who would be staying with us for all of ten days bringing in the happiness and light as only He can!!  The kitchen got busy what with the helping hands kneading and rolling, frying and baking, stuffing and mixing foods whose aroma wafted through the house, spreading across the lanes, crossing with the aromas from houses across ours and creating a jamboree of fragrances that can only stay in permanent and special memories. Specialy prepared prasad of 'modaks' would be the highlight with each house claiming to make the best ones. Nobody could beat mine though!! A specially designated area decorated with crepe paper rolls, lace cuttings, thermocol figures and ferry lights marked the seat of the Lord and all the neighborhood kids joined in the force that went from home to home helping in the decorations. The celebrations were upon us and the world around us had suddenly become a place where people of all ages pitched in and helped, came together and worked through nights, laughing, eating, sipping on endless cups of tea and making merry. For the child in me, this was the power of the Lord. This was the effect and this was the cause. I loved the way it changed morose, dull routine into an effervescent bonhomie, a fountain of celebration of faith and happiness. I loved every moment of these ten magical days.

                                  The ten days were packed to the brim. The mornings saw us getting up much earlier than usual so we could complete our arati before leaving for school. Mother insisted on us singing all ten aratis and the final prayer. The arati always began with 'sukhakarta, dukhaharta' penned by Swami Ramdas, the 17th century saint, who has used the exact words to describe what our Lord Ganesha means to us. This was Mother's way of making us remember by rote the prayers that stand strong with us today. The evenings followed the same ritual of ten aratis followed by prasad, but not just in our house. We children went from home to home across the community, singing aratis and eating sumptuous prasad. Time seemed to be aplenty and adults had the enthusiasm of bringing the neighborhood into their homes as a part of the festivity.

                                 Ganesh festival has always been an integral part of the Hindu culture for more than three hundred years. The festival was an important celebration in the household of the erstwhile Peshwas from 1715 to 1818, whose reigning deity was Lord Ganesha. They celebrated the festival for the people and concluded it on Anant Chaturdashi day by distributing sweets and clothes to the poor and royal luncheons to high class brahmins. In 1818, Peshwas lost their rule to the British and the glory of the festival was lost. The festival lost its public identity and was relegated to private celebrations behind closed doors. It is rumored that a pure gold idol of Lord Ganesh studded with diamonds and rubies with large ruby eyes, valued at 50K pounds in 1818, was stolen and taken to England.  The festival remained a truly home celebration till 1892 when first, Pune based Bhau Rangari , impressed by celebrations in Indore province, decided to start celebrating in Maharashtra as a purely home celebration. National leader Hon. Shri Bal Gangadhar Tilak realised its importance of uniting people in a slavery ridden country and igniting the passion for nationalism. In 1893, he installed the first public idol and thus began the public celebration of Ganesh festival. The ten days were now marked with much song and dance with nationalistic messages exhorting people to unite and fight the enemy. Faith and nationalism made a deadly combination for the invaders. Soon the entire Maharashtra fell for the beauty and charm of this festival, credit more to the favourite Lord, and Ganesh festivals became an annual ritual of public celebration bringing entire communities, towns, cities and states together,gathering under one umbrella of love and faith for their Lord, the destroyer of all that was bad.

                    The public programmes gradually changed over time and from nationalistic songs and dances, like the powadas and kirtans, became more entertaining after Independence. The first few decades saw local talent with crude instruments, hastily and shabbily put up props and stages performing with minimal light and music, folk songs and folk dances with costumes hand-stitched by amateurs. These programmes were called 'mele' and were simplistic yet full of heart and participation. Over the last couple of decades lavish stage decoration, professionalism in organising the festival, professional artistes charging huge sums but delivering high-class acts on stage and music blaring through unscaleable walls of loudspeakers have replaced the original concept of the festival. The faith, the happiness and the excitement remains the same.

                   I too have continued the legacy of my mother and have discovered the joy of having Lord Ganesha, 'Bappa' as He is called by all, visit my home, albeit for five days,and give me five magical days to remember and a year full of anticipation. The major change I have done is to reduce my carbon foot print. I have found my lord in a silver idol, represented by the betel-nut that leaves our home to get biodegraded.

              It's  strange, or honestly, not strange at all that these five days or ten or one and a half as in some homes, are filled with untold happiness and sunshine. The remover of all obstacles, "Vighnaharta" and remover of all pain,' dukhaharta' comes to each home with so much hope. In a life riddled with anxieties and worries, unhappiness and illness, rage and greed, corruption and red tape, He comes with the promise of an honest and pure time, putting hope for a good tomorrow in each one who folds his eyes, bends his head and prays from the heart to their one and only, Lord Ganesha. 

              He comes with so much positivity that it is hard not to smile through the day. The slackening of the burdened shoulder and the smoothening of the forehead wrinkles puts back that lost smile on the face and warmth in the heart. He goes away with the promise of returning back. He never fails to come back year after year, giving us the cherished moments that shower like rain bringing life back to the parched earth.

                                    'Ganpati Bappa Moraya'