Ganapati Bappa Moraya

My religion gives me 33 Crore deities to choose from but I am partial to only 2 of them. And one of them is on His annual voyage to earth this week and the next. Yes, I am talking about the festival of Ganeshotsav when the entire Indian state of Maharashtra gets busy welcoming and looking after its favorite Lord – Ganesha. :-)

Years ago in one of the classes I listened with wonder as the teacher talked about the Gods that the ancient Egyptians revered – many of them with animal heads – before realizing with a start that my favorite deity too has an elephant head. :-) I have always wondered why I am so drawn to this particular incarnation of God. Maybe because He is the Lord of knowledge and I have always held knowledge in high esteem. Maybe because He is fond of sweets and doesn’t care that He has a big tummy :-) Maybe because He is the harbinger of happiness and drives out all sorrow, all pain. Or maybe because He looks just so very approachable :-)

So people dance in the streets and sing as they bring Him home - some for 1.5 days, some for 5 and some for 7. The festival started as a communal festivity and so you can also see Him gracing and blessing many streets with his presence in brightly colored decorated pandals. These public Ganeshas are usually around for 10 days. And then the day of the immersion comes when people take Him back to his home along with his mother Goddess Parvati. I used to often wonder why people look so happy and cheerful though they are taking out the idols for immersing in the sea. Over the years though I have realized that it’s just because they know He will be back again next year. He has never failed to keep his appointment :-)

It invariably rains as the procession is winding down to the sea. And I get a lump in my throat when I see people unfolding umbrellas to shield the Lord – who looks after the whole world – from it.

My country is reeling under a lot this time – the river Kosi has gone on a rampage in Bihar destroying lives and property, Jammu and Kashmir totters on the brink of renewed terrorism and Orissa is seeing people grown up in some village getting at each others’ throats over religion. :-(

So as I join the chant of “Ganapati Bappa Moraya” that is now echoing through the nooks and corners of Maharashtra, I pray that the God bestow a lot of the wisom that He is known for to my fellow countrymen – common man and politicians alike. This country urgently needs it.