GANESHA FESTIVITY
While the day starts with "Happy Gowri Ganesha Festival to All" Messages on WhatsApp Groups, the preparations for the festival starts almost since a Week before.
The preparations for the Ganesha Festival starts from cleaning the house days before.
It's one such many festivals where entire family actively participates in almost all preparatory activities.
The joy and excitement of Gowri, Ganesha shopping is an experience in itself. The choice of flowers, fruits, decorative items and ofcourse Ganesha himself are handpicked with care and love. Every member of the family has to touch, feel and approve the Ganesha We bring home.
Until recent years, mom and wife were busy preparing and planning for dishes and menu. Since couple of years now, we have made our lives bit easier and now the participation by everyone in choosing the Caterer and finalizing the Menu.
And the involvement of everyone at home in preparing for the Puja, decorating home is always infectiously enthusiastic, especially when all these are done wearing smile on our faces.
The Gowri Habba day is marked by Ladies wearing traditional attire and carrying Bhagina to relatives, while husbands painfully wear a smile, drives them around helping them carrying Bhagina.
On the beautiful Morning of Ganesha habba, late starters like me are woken up by chants of Stotras, Sounds of the bells from the Neighbours.
Thanks to our decision to outsource food preparations, even the women clout will now be involved in Ganesha Puja, all in traditional dresses.
The mouth watering Kadubu Amma gives us immediately after the Puja, is worth all the Wait as there would be no Breakfast on festivals.
And thats when the WhatsApp Groups starts buzzing again "Nimmane Puje aytha?" Conversations & Status updates with pictures of their Ganesha with Captions "Nammane Ganesha"
And sumptuous 5 course meal is an icing on the cake for all the celebrations.
Come noon, you will either end up greeting constant flow of guests to see our Ganesha or will end up visiting other's house to see their Ganesha.
During our younger days, our gang of friends and cousins used to visit every house in the street, more for the Treat they used to give to their visitors.
And the day of joy and celebrations ends with the evening Puja and bidding adieu to Ganesha by immersing him in water tub.
All these celebrations, festivity, following tradition, culture yet being close to divinity is all what we know as Hinduism. And I am seeing this happening without any hindrance or societal concerns since 4 decades and time immemorial to my parents and their parents.
Unlike the rhetoric and impression that is forced upon us from past 10 years that Hinduism is in danger, and it is our responsibility to save Hinduism.
While this expression and verbosity sounds so Negative and dangerous for the society and the true fabric of India, it is indeed our responsibility to save Hinduism.
We can do that by simply following the traditions and culture, by continuing to follow what our Parents have taught us to do and pass on to our next generation.
This new narrative being sold to masses since 7 years is only a political convenience to them and serving selfish political motives and agenda.
Not sure who gave them this idea, that we humans can protect Gods!
Hope the destroyer of Obstacles, removes all Obstacles for us to think straight, think sane and keep faith and religion as our personal trait and let us not make it a National Agenda and a Country's aspiration.
