Written By Vivaan Gupta (Grade 4)
Staring at the beautiful idol of Lord Ganesha adorned in his jewels in stupor fuelled the desire to get the Lord of Knowledge at home. Whenever the Lord came to my society in Andheri in grandeur my heart would beat like crazy and I would yell and scream and run!
So, I was delighted when I heard that I was getting the idol at my home this year. We started making preparations immediately. My affection for the Lord was unapparelled and I would frequently yell, “Gannu is coming home!” that would irritate my exhausted mother! I worked hard and did all I could do to help my mother and my brother. I had loads of questions in my mind and when I asked them to my mom, she would always have the same reply, “Wait for it!” On top of that, my brother was filming our celebration as a school project and I often found a camera sticking up to my nose whenever I did a Ganpati job. My brother stood in some awkward pose which would have made the yoga masters proud and would march at the authority of a director. One thing I loved was hanging diyas around an exquisite frame we built. My parents fought tooth and nail for the necessary equipment we required. Once, they toured all of Mumbai to chase a decorative umbrella!
On Friday 28th August 2020, my Father, my uncle, my brother, and I travelled to the place to get the idol. As usual, my brother was armed with my dad’s phone to capture the whole thing. But even that couldn’t dampen my high spirits. The idol was exhilarating and the chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya!” ran all across my brain. I still remember my uncle groaning over the weight of the idol but the smile on his face seemed otherwise. After that, the area where the Ganpati idol was kept in the area became a seclusion zone. My mother and father would shriek in horror even if I ran 2 feet away from the table on the idol! But their happiness and joy glowed through the entire atmosphere.
The Sthapna was the most interesting event of all. Since none of us knew the procedure, my Grandfather carried the procedure from seeing a youtube video. It was my mom’s phone. Aarti hymns and chants would often be met with yells of how to switch on the phone and fix the Bluetooth speaker! Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable ceremony and I adored every part of it. I was especially waiting to get that cloth out of the Lord’s idol and I enjoyed making the lord wear his clothes and crown.
This was a peaceful family affair and we all celebrated it with pomp. Many people admired the idol and loved the setup. Often, my brother would march into the place and take beautiful panoramic videos that I watched upon later. It seemed as if the idol broke into a huge grin when receiving the delicious food made by mother, aunt, and grandmother!
The Visarjan was equally … interesting. We had invited our mother’s friends that day. My mom had chanced upon a huge bucket and it was perfect for the visarjan. To our horror, the bucket had a hole in it and was leaking! We tried to find solutions, but no avail. There was no other bucket big enough for the idol. So, my dad and uncle ran out to find another big bucket for the idol. They returned after some time and we excitedly started pouring the water in. But again, to our horror (and laughs) the bucket was leaking too! Then, we decided to fix the hole using a glue gun (which is another story), and finally, the visarjan started commencing.
It was a heart – wrenching ceremony. My eyes couldn’t hold the tears back, when Ganpati, the beacon of happiness that had sprung in our lives were finally leaving us. All the more, I was happy that my desire had been fulfilled and I grew content. Moreover, I was curious and never actually had seen a visarjan commencing.
But as they say, everything happens with a reason. We soon became excited to grow seeds from the mud of the dissolved idol. The site from which we had got the Ganpati idol from gave us fertilizer and exact instructions on how to grow them. We started planting with great gusto with singing songs and dancing. But the house was a mess, there was soil everywhere! And, yep, my mom had the time of her life cleaning it up!
It was truly an enlightening experience for me. I had witnessed the massive amount of hard work that we put in to get the Lord. Our hard work was returned with the fruits of joy – the best possible fruit that man could imagine. Our lives had lit up like a day and I can’t express the amount of gratitude I have to my family for making my dream come true. Truly, “Ganpati Bappa Morya” – The Lord had blessed us.
Featured Image Courtesy – NewsTrackLive