Somethings are just meant to be. Last week a friend of mine sent me this beautiful verse from the Quran :

“Be patient and strive with constancy and perseverance

For all suffering and sorrow as well as

All bounties proceed from God, Whose plan

Is righteous and for the good of His creatures”.

How do these words connect with Lord Ganesh?

Well, it’s a long story.

When I was a little girl, I remember walking up to the stalls near  Bandra lake to pick up a tiny clay idol to bring back home to my granny’s house. That tiny space had Ganeshas of all sizes perched on shelves, waiting to be picked up by worshippers like us. There were some people,my mother told me who brought Him home every year as part of family tradition and those people had the very same idol made year after year! But ours was meant to be just for  us, to initiate and familiarise us with our rites and traditions and my brother and I were allowed to chose the idol that we liked the most.  We made a tiny procession my brother, mother, granny and I walking home solemnly with a garishly coloured Lord Ganesh. My mother maintained this “tradition”  till as long as we could manage it and I felt sorry that our family didn’t have its own Ganesha to worship.   Even though my granny did the puja every day, the fragrance of agarbatti and camphor,the warm glow of the lamp , the clanging of the cymbals, the ringing of the bell and the chants that we joyously sang seemed extra special at this time of year. I had always wanted to re-create this atmosphere in my own home and was overjoyed when Hubby Dear came home one day with a silver Ganesh idol that someone had gifted him! And what a magnificent Ganesh He was, sitting grandly under a carved silver canopy just waiting to be revered on Ganesh Chaturthi. My wish came true that year with the Lord walking right into my home.

My little girls were as thrilled as I was seeing this glorious gift and we celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi that year with special enthusiasm . For around ten years we kept Lord Ganesh outside in the living room for all the ten days of the festival, each day decorating His corner with flowers and rangoli designs. We sang prayers and we lit lamps and when all the Ganeshas slipped back into the sea, we put ours back in the cupboard to be brought out again the next year.

Our ten day festival shrank to 1 1/2 days as the girls got more involved with their lives but our enthusiasm did not diminish. However, this year with the house left with just us Golden Oldies with bad backs weighed down with memories I was debating whether or not to install him in our living room…..Festivals don’t seem that festive without children running around, invigorating the house with their energy and presence.

But obviously God had other plans because by last evening I somehow found myself cleaning up the house, bringing out the idol, buying garlands and flowers to welcome Him home.

Ganpati Bappa Morya!