From Sukhkarta To Chikni Chameli The Evolution Of How We Celebrate Ganpati

Gopika Kapoor, the author of well known books like Spiritual Parenting: Wisdom (and Wit) for Raising your Child in a Stress-free and Spiritual Environment, asks all the mommies to spend their time doing activities that they enjoy rather their following certain norms that restrict them to do so.

When I was a child, I looked forward to a number of events every year. These were Diwali, my birthday, rainy days when I could miss school, summer holidays in Mahabaleshwar, and the run-up to Ganesh Chathurthi at my aunt’s driver’s house. I know this last event sounds a bit strange but if you were brought up in the 80s like I was, you might have experienced a cross-cultural/class friendship with either the mali’s daughter (like I did, and Nandu was my faithful summer friend till she was married off at 14), the watchman’s son or, in my case, the entire family of Jayram, my bua’s loyal family driver who lived behind her bungalow at Gamdevi.

Ganesh Chathurthi was a big deal for Jayram’s family. A month before huge sheets of glittery thermocol were bought (at wholesale price) and stored in the overhead loft. Designs were sketched in pencil on rough paper. Finally the day arrived to cut the decorations out, an event I made sure I never missed. The sharpest knife was heated on the stove and immediately pressed into the thermocol, cutting through it like butter with a sizzle and a faint burning smell. Specks of fuschia, purple and parrot green glitter, fallen off the thermocol, sparkled on the floor making it look like a discotheque. The next big event was making the modaks. Smooth dough exploding in my mouth with the sweetness of coconut and jaggery. For ten days, I camped at my aunt’s  house, reveling in the festivities with as much gusto and vigour as any of Jayram’s family members. It is no wonder that this festival made it to my list of favourite events of the year.

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Now I dread Ganesh Chathurthi. Living in the heart of Mumbai city, I am right in the centre of the ‘celebrations’ if I can call them that. Three weeks before the big day, traffic piles up, loudspeakers blare ‘Chikni Chameli‘ and ‘Chithiya Kalaiyan‘, crowds hustle and jostle, not with a festive bonhomie but with distinct hostility. And as the day comes closer, the crowds gets angrier, the music gets louder and and traffic snarls more horrific. I’m left wondering: is this what Ganesha, – the benevolent, pot-bellied beloved god of all of India, regardless of religion – wanted? Of course the answer is a resounding no.

They say Ganesha never refuses wishes, and I know this from the thousands who throng to worship at his feet every year. So this year I have a few wishes of my own that I want the son of Shiva and Parvati to grant. Oh elephant-toothed Lord, please grant me the following:

1. We know your ears are large and can hear all our prayers. But we have human ears that are susceptible to ear ache. Please explain this to all those who blast music from loudspeakers late into the night.

2. Mount Kailash where you live is clean and pristine. But with you coming to the city, the amount of garbage only piles up higher and higher. Please make people aware of this – all they have to do is throw their rubbish in a bin.

3. Krauncha the mouse is your vehicle and you can move at super speed up and down Mount Kailash and across heaven and earth. But we all have to spend hours stuck in traffic jams. Please either give us our own Kraunchas or else stop the CM from allowing pandals that block half the road.

4. Oh remover of obstacles, these days getting from one place to another is like an obstacle course. Please remove not just the obstacles in our lives but on our roads too.

5. And then just like that, after ten days, you leave to go to your watery home. But we can see your remnants bobbing up in the sea. And after a few days, we see the carcasses of the fish and other sea creatures who have unknowingly feasted on your parts.

So above all oh Lord Ganesha, my prayer is to give us all, ignorant humans, the good thoughts that you are known for so that we do not end up destroying our world in our worship of you.

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