Ganpoo
On how I began to see Ganesh Utsav differently….
Some years ago, my school principal, Rashmi di, gave me a lift in her car, to Dadar railway station. We were caught in slow-moving traffic because a small group of boys, had a little idol that they were sending off, on a small handcart. They were high on the sounds of the Nashik Dhol. That little paltan was enough to stall traffic and my principal’s driver seemed to get impatient. Rashmi di at that point said that she allows herself to share the road with these boys, because “where else will they go?”
It changed my perspective on how I saw festivities that spilled on the road. This Ganpati too, I observed the families who were taking their cherished bappa for visarjan. You could tell, this was a high point of the year for many of them. Some had their clothes matched, others their dance steps. Their chants and prayers were one voice. For one day of the year, or half, they made the road theirs. Their little hand carts, some small tempos, their flex banners, their ideas of fun and festivities. They tried their best to not obstruct traffic, still careful, that they could get in trouble- who knows who’s in the cars.
On the last day of visarjan, Anant Chatrudashi, my husband and I, followed the huge idols and processions. We walked behind the crowd, feeling like interlopers only to find ourselves gladly being offered water and prasad on the road- like everyone else was. We walked to the spot where the immersions were going to take place, watched with wonder and returned home.
Do I think that the visrajan events obstruct traffic and cause trouble to regular commuters? Yes. Do I wonder if after the festivities men get drunk and create ruckus in their homes for their women to bear? Maybe. Does it upset me that the sea is filled with refuse from the visarjan causing further degradation of the waters? Yes. Do I think that in this political climate, it is naïve to not notice that the rules are different for Hindu festivals while others are afraid to bring their religion in public? Yes, of course. But keeping all this aside, I think I have begun to see the enjoyment of the sinister elite- as shown in Dev Patel’s Monkey Man as more problematic even if they happen in secrecy. Or the brazen and public show of wealth and power at weddings like that of Anant Ambani and what they can lay claim to which makes me angrier.
We have come to believe that by directing our anger at the smallest, we are setting our world in order. That’s exactly what those in power have always wanted you to believe, and that’s exactly what we need to refuse.
Enjoy some shaky pics of Ganpoo from the Visrajan.
Well nuanced, thank you!
I agree that we need to be careful whom we are directing our anger against.
While smaller pandals run by children and in villages around Bangalore have just been that - small, am seeing a larger face showing up - large pandals, speakers and crackers through the night, processions that linger in front of mosques for no good reason. There has been a weaponisation of Ganesha this time, at least in Karnataka. I do long for the smaller festivals from decades ago. Hopefully we can get to a stage where we can share the prasad and the festival with people of other faiths instead of using it as an occassion to provoke them.