My
conscious was absolutely aware of the festival but my inner soul was not ready
to take any action. Staying away from my family was one of the reasons of not having
the enthusiasm to celebrate.
It
was an ordinary lazy holiday for me until I went out on the streets to have
brunch with my friends. The streets displayed various hues and shades of people. Everyone was indulged in some or the
other thing but all the activities displayed a common underlying feeling of
devotion; devotion towards Lord Ganesha.
On
the one hand are those for whom Ganpati is the highlight of the year. The
festival brings a reason to celebrate and spend lakhs on the community celebrations,
dance in the processions until their energy generating system supports them and
play music with mainly Bollywood numbers on the playlist. There are few people who have their private
pujas at home in a hope to have Ganpati fulfills their wishes including lots
of moolah, promotions and good health throughout the year.
But
on the other hand there are people like him and me who have different reasons
of not being part of the celebrations.
He
is the person who plays a very important role in my life. People who know me closely can
understand it better. He is the person who can bring a clone of my key
to this world in just half and hour.
As
we reached the place to have brunch, I met him to get my key duplicated. This
time I had not lost it but to avoid the issue in future, I thought of taking some
risk management steps by having a duplicate in prior. (Being an IT
Professional, I tired to implement fundas of a risks and issues, which I have learnt at my job)
He
started the work of duplication. I was standing beside him but to save time I thought of leaving the key
with him and pick it later after the completion of my brunch. I asked him if he
was okay with this approach and he smiled and said he is fine. Being an
adherent fan of crime patrol, my mind told me to ensure he doesn't run with my
key.
I
asked him till what time his shop would be open. Since it was a festival day, I
was expecting him to reply "in few hours", so he could close the shop in half day.
He
was doing his work with full concentration with his eyes drilled into the keys.
After listening to my question he paused, lifted his face towards me with a
smile and said in English “Till Evening”. His smile clearly showed that the
question was of no use to him and it is mandatory for him to work irrespective
of the day and date.
He
immediately resumed his work and I left from his shop towards the hotel
where my friends were waiting for me.
I was just left
with some unanswered and helpless thoughts. Though it is wrong to use the
adjective helpless, as in my life I do not have any hindrance, which can block
me from my actions except the lack of guts, and my materialistic wishes which
often tend to drive my actions.
The underlying
question was ”Why is this difference in Celebrations for each of us??”
As stated in
Sunday’s The Hindu newspaper, Mumbai’s richest Ganpati the GSB Seva Mandal’s
received Rs 5.75 crore in cash and the ornaments worth Rs 15 crore last year. It has sought an insurance cover of Rs224 crore this year. The numbers are going to be similar across all the cities (except for Mumbai which is going to be sky high!).
I am sure Lord
Ganesha must be watching from up there! He would be happy to see his various moods personifying idols but would be worried too! His plans would definitely include to have a financial
analyst sent to our country who could have this amount equally distributed to the needy verticals based on their requirements. I believe it
is the commercialization and the display of some people’s power than their
faith, which worried me. For few cities, the Ganesh festival has become a big
political circus that is expanding dangerously. These parties have found the
means of acquiring votes and flaunting their money power.
From daily wages workers to multi millionaires;
everyone have their own way of celebrating the festival. Each one is trying to
increase the size of their pocket to have the best idol in their home. The
vendors are sitting in a hope to have the maximum sale of their idols to yet
again have the best idol in their home. The wish to have best idol is a hope to
bring best life and solution to all the worries.
I am no one to
comment and stop people from spending their money on these grand celebrations
because I also have a very long list which many may find as complete waste of
money. J I just hope that our not so
corrupted leaders understand the fact that we Indians have strong faith in
power of almighty but we do not wish to be cheated and fooled by his name.
Lord
Vinayaka, Ganeshji, Ganpatiji, Vinayakar is the darling of the masses. Ganesh
Chaturthi intends to brings people of all religion, caste and creed together and I hope the motive remains the
same for years to come…
