Ganeshotsav

The last few days have been filled with fun and devotion. At the same times the rain Gods have drenched Mumbai during the festival in a manner not experienced before (atleast not in my memory) during Ganeshotsav. It seems the Gods are happy with the simple and hard working Mumbaikar, this year. We profusely thank them for these blessings.

The days of Visarjan are nearing.

An emotional farewell is awaiting.

The teary eyes and a cry of “Pudhchya varshi lavkar ya” (come back early next year) fill the atmosphere with gloom as well as hope. The hope of Ganesh visiting our houses again. The hope of, He blessing us again. The hope of the year passing by without any obstacles.

Have been visiting friends and relatives during these days. The bonds are being strengthened due to the festival. The old memories come up and the new memories are made. The next generation meets and starts bonding. This is the best part of any festival, as it helps to carry on the relations their parents and grandparents have built and nurtured.

Mumbai is alive 24 hours during these days. The areas of Girgaum, Khetwadi and Lalbaug-Dadar are buzzing with activities and devotees making a bee line towards the different pandas where the larger idols have bee installed. Now a days, the themes and shows are also abreast of new happenings and some also help in creating awareness about environment and personal health.

The one which I have liked personally is the message from the Mumbai RTO department through this festival regarding wearing helmets. An important message for our own welfare and well being.

Even if the celebrations have been subdued due to the floods this year, the fervour is the same as ever. The pitcure of kids pulling their parents from one pandal to next is still the same. The crowd at the “Aarti’s” is still singing them with the same enthusiasm as ever. It is truly great fun to listen to the different ways the same words are sung in different households.

As the 10th days approaches now, the feeling of seeing off a near and dear one is slowly rising. It is always difficult to see off a dear one, and this is God. He is just not only our family member, but our Guide, who guides through various difficulties. The stay of the God at our place has broken many a shackles in our personal lives, family lives and social lives. It uplifts our feelings towards our nation too. But anything that comes has to go, is the basic education from Visarjan.

It is a teaching to us, that every Srijan ( creation) has to move towards Visarjan (destruction). It’s a part and process of the cycle of evolution of the Universe. If we think, we will know that it is because of Visarjan that we are able to enjoy life. Can we imagine an infinite life? (the scientists have been trying to find the elixir of life, but it has evaded us till now.) If we knew that we are going to have an infinite life, will we be enjoy life? So, the seers, wanted us to understand the finiteness of life and so they introduced us to this process of Srijan – Visarjan through celebration of Ganeshotsav.

Also let us look at it in our everyday life. Visarjan is a part of our daily life. We have to immerse many of our thoughts, beliefs and emotions, otherwise our very existence will become very difficult, living with them. Let’s understand it with an example. Say we had a fight and now we hold a grudge for the person with whom we fought. Now if we keep living with this grudge, we cannot move ahead in life. So as soon as that person goes away, we have to forget it and move on. Yes we might remember it again when we see or meet that person. But it does not or cannot stay with us for every moment of our life. Otherwise our lives will become miserable. So better immerse the feeling.

Visarjan also signifies to develop an outlook from “looking outside” to “looking inside”. Everything is destructible, but not the Love of God, the Soul. We need to understand that the flow of the river of love is within out body and keeps us going. We need to immerse the Ganesh into it. Leave our bodily desires and immerse ourselves into our souls.

Yet another way to look at it can be that death (visarjan) is going back to where we came from. Going back to our mother. Our mother will remould the Soul, and we will get a new life. We can also understand the importance and necessity and conviction about Life after Death. Why fear Death?, when we are going to come back again and again, till our Karma makes us do this. Death is only a changing of bodies, as we change our clothes, is what Shreemad Bhagwad Geeta describes. As I mentioned in my last blog, it is the Parthiv Ganesh which we bring home. Parthiv means made from earth. “From dust thou art, to dust thou shalt be, was said of the body” it comes from earth and returns back to earth.

I would request my readers to sit back and think over what we are doing. Are we doing it the way our Rishis have told us too? Is the social responsibility that Lokmanya Tilak envisaged being fulfilled? If not, then we need to ho backto our roots and correct our course as well.

May Ganesh give us all the necessary understanding and intellect to do it.

Ganpati Bappa Morya!

Mangalmurti Morya!

Pudhchya Varshi Lavkar ya!