Pune and Ganeshotsav/GaneshChaturthi are almost synonymous. This festival lasts for 1–10 days, starting with families welcoming Ganapati Bappa, the God of Intelligence, home. Just like many other festivals, through the 10 days of the festival, people invite their family and friends over, share food, chant aartis, and visit pandals to experience grand artistic decorations and lights, etc. This concludes with bidding farewell to Bappa by carrying out an immersion procession.
On the last day of this festival, everyone bids farewell to their beloved Bappa by immersing His idols in water bodies to indicate His farewell. The farewell part of this festival is where a root cause of concern crept all through my childhood. I always struggled to understand why Ganapati Bappa, the God of Intelligence wasn’t able to convince his disciples not to pollute the water bodies with harmful chemicals that were part of commercially manufactured idols. I remember reluctantly going to the immersion procession and always dreaded the last part where idols were immersed in the river.
Days passed, and something changed 11 years ago (2013). A pang of conscience finally hit, and there was a new-found courage to (finally) defy something that didn’t make sense (ethically, practically, and socially). I pitched the idea of making Bappa’s idol at home rather than buying. The rationale was simple
- When we come to think of idols, they are supposed to be one’s perception of what God/HigherPower would look/feel like; and making an idol rather than buying one is a much better way to relate to the deity and attempt to understand the vast unknowns of religion, culture and humanity itself while doing the same
- This path led to letting go of things that I had come to identify as toxic; some in the literal sense (e.g.: toxic chemicals that were used as default ingredients in bulk production of idols), and some philosophical (e.g.: I was inherently assuming that it was somebody else’s responsibility to take care of my expression of devotion, my understanding of culture)
- This path helped in adopting a sustainable lifestyle that hopefully will hold the roots of our rich culture (ones worth holding on to)
- This helped me appreciate the true intertwinedness and complexity of life. Things seem hopeless and impossible at the beginning; however, with enough attention, persistence, and rigor, things very soon become achievable
- This path would possibly give me and everyone around/involved to learn, unlearn, and relearn many things in life that I took for granted
…all this without embracing philosophical pessimism of course🤞🏽😇
As with everything in life, things started small; and for the first couple of years, the responsibility of making the Bappa idol fell solely on me. However, with time, like-minded people in the family joined the bandwagon; and everyone pitched in with whatever they wanted to. When I look back, the memories we created, and the jokes cracked (on ourselves and our limited artistic skillset 😆), while building our own Bappa have helped us realize that
- Seeking humility is a worthwhile journey
- Nothing is impossible
- No one is an expert on Day1…every expert creation has days-n-nights, months-n-years of effort, dedication, commitment, and persistence behind it…every expert is a Work In Progress
- Never underestimate the value of hard work, honesty, and dedication…the upside of having these qualities is quite high
- Take your time to pick a worthy battle, and then stay invested in it for the longest time
- ‘Slowly’ is one of the fastest way to reach any kind of worthy success in life 💡
In this journey, the most wonderful thing happened a few years back, when the responsibility of making Bappa was completely taken over by others in the family. The way things are going, most probably this activity will again see a complete transfer of power/responsibility as the next generation is way more enthusiastic, curious, and capable; thus teaching me a very important lesson about identifying the right individuals to take the torch ahead, handing things of at the right time, and gradually letting things go for good ❤️
When I think about it, it is such a blessing that for Ramaa purchasing a Ganapati idol for home is an alien concept. Since her birth, she has seen everyone around her prepare Bappa idols at home, immerse them in a bucket, and then use the remainder soil/slush in the garden pots. I hope that she chooses to continue with this tradition and maybe even make things better as she grows.
P.S. #1
I felt like writing about this many times through the last few years. However, I had to ensure that it was not a one-off thing. 11 years seems like a good bragging milestone to share these thoughts which were always on my mind 😬
P.S. #2
I realize that we can do more, and we can do better…we are a work in progress 🙂
Also, many people are now adopting different ways of being context-aware of the situation and doing what they can to stay as eco-friendly as possible. Many are also questioning the status quo, and doing their bit to understand the real crux behind our religion, and cultural rituals. Here is hoping that every one of these angles brings a positive change through their actions, and makes this world a better place than they found it 🙂 ✌🏽
गणपती बाप्पा मोरया 🌺
