It is that time of the year when entire India (most of it) breaks
into a tizzy. Lord Ganesha comes down to live with us for a couple of
days, and as usual, we shower him with all our love before we immerse
him in the nearest water body :) Among the Hindu deities, Ganesha is the
Salaman Khan of deity-dom. Everybody loves him, owns him, prays to him.
The craze for this star is so much that the Ganesha idol that the kids
in my apartment had so lovingly placed vanished overnight! Somebody
stole our Ganesha!
One one street in Alwal, where I live,
there were 6 Ganesha's on public display ranging from our little Ganesha
to huge idols. These were the big Ganesha's owned by the upper
middle-class and the small one's owned by kids and the poor. The evening prayers by each Ganesha ensured that the Local Brahmin made some
money (for a change), and the poor and destitute too had some food in
form of Prasad (offerings made to god and then distributed among the
worshipers).
Hindu's are a race of people whose festivals are celebrations of
life, of hope, of prosperity food and wealth. There are no major festivals of
mourning, of grief, of loss. Its all about victory and winnings. For a
religion that mimics fatalism to a fault, the festivals are the only
escape route, they maintain balance between the cycle of Karma and the
fun of living. In a life full of strife, our forefathers who walked
thousands of years ago ensured that there is always something to cheer
about, something to come together and share.
Jai Bolo Ganesh Maharaj Ki!
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