वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय सूर्यकोटि समप्रभ।
निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा॥
He is finally here. Our Bappa is here. After waiting for the whole year, heart skips many beats when we finally here the ‘dhols and tashas’ loudly cheering with the colors of ‘gulals’ in the sky. That is when it seems that joy and happiness do have a face and can dance and sing. And being a ‘Marathi’ by birth, Ganesh utsav has always been a reason for my jumping happiness. As we Maharashtrians say with pride, ‘आमचा बाप्पा येतोय’.
Ganesha is not only the god of intelligence but also the ideal god of beginnings. He is the god of wisdom and knowledge. The God who is a friend and guardian for his Bhakts. And maybe therefore in alone Mumbai, there is more than 1,50,000 status of Lord Ganesha made up of clay are immersed in the sea after ten days of celebration.
Apart from devotional sentiments, ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ has been a reason for unity in our society. Although it is believed that Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj started this festival as a public event for people’s celebration, but it was the great freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak who thought this festival could be a reason for social reform and started it as a public event where people could gather together and become one in front of the lord.
It was also seen that Ganesh utsav brought everyone together, the rich and the poor, the upper caste and the lower caste, even the Hindu and Muslim. And not just since freedom struggle but till today ‘Bappa’ has brought infinite soles together with various reasons.
So let us celebrate this special festival by standing together irrespective of all the odds.
I wish everyone have a lot of Modaks and Laddus in their plate. Count your calories later, first take his blessings.
‘Happy Ganesh Chaturthi’.
-Sagarika Patil
