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September 19, 2005
Ganpati Hopping
This is my new piece for Mumbai Mirror, that appeared today.
Saturday before last, we made a big mistake. We decided to take the kids out for Ganpati darshan, and unfortunately, we started first with the GSB Ganpati at the Cosmopolitan grounds. It was like starting an Agatha Christie book from the last page – every pandal we saw later that day seemed a little disappointing.
There were people everywhere, queuing up for long periods of time, just to be able to get a short glimpse of their favorite God. Ravi gave us a guided tour and some of the numbers he reeled out were mind-boggling - jewellery and gold valued at almost Rs 6 crores adorning the idol, more than 20 lakhs of people visiting in the five days that the Ganpati is kept for and more than 15,000 people fed every afternoon and evening. Maybe, if we ran our disaster management with the same logistics, the city would be far better off.
We then took a cab to the crossroad before Matunga Gymkhana and started our Ganpati hopping. Most of these were located in building compounds or on the roads and in a short 100 meter area upto the market, there must have been at least eight or so. The kids were excited with the first two or three, especially since they could see the idols from a close distance, but after that, Ganpati fatigue took over. In the end there are just so many museums, towers or monuments that you can visit when you are touring, just so many bars that you can crawl into at night and just so many chocolates that you can eat at one time.
Last Sunday, on Anant Chaturthi, we again took the kids out for Ganpati darshan, this time onto the main road. The entire place resembled a “mela” from an old 70s film with road-side stalls selling every thing from vada-pav to toys and even multi-colored bangles. Except for a small lane for cars, the entire stretch from Sion to Dadar was just filled with people. We clung to the kids hoping not to repeat a “lost and found” scene.
This is probably the only time when you see so many people at one time in Matunga. There were old ladies sitting on the road on their own plastic chairs, kids from the BJ Home sitting quietly in three rows on the kerbside, parents holding their kids up Ganpati style on their shoulders so that they could get a better view of the idols, bystanders breaking spontaneously into shuffle-dances when the idols came near, people scrambling behind the trucks trying to pick up some “prasad” and some people just circumambulating, trying not to miss any sight or a single idol.
Unlike a cricket match, this atmosphere can never be captured by live coverage on TV. Though it’s pretty hilarious when the commentators keep saying things like “See that Ganpati is going (or coming)” or “Now everyone is dancing” or “Now everyone is happy”, etc.
Finally after having had our fill of Ganpatis and the noise and the crowds, we went for dinner. At the table, seriously in thought, my son, whose current favorite superhero is Hanuman, turned to me. “Who is stronger, Bheem or Hanuman?”. I said, “Hanuman”. He continued, “Then who is stronger, Hanuman or Ganpati?”. I said, “Ganpati”. He slowly shook his head in disagreement and till we finished dinner, there was nothing I could say that would convince him. Can anyone tell for sure?
Posted by bhavinj at September 19, 2005 05:39 PM
Comments
For the strength comparison of Hanuman and Bheem with Hanuman being the stronger, there is a story, I think, in the Mahabharat.
Bheem, once when filled with pride at his own strength, encounters an old monkey lying on a road and rudely asks him to move away so that he can pass. The monkey says that he is too old to move and could Bheem lift him. Bheem tries and finds surprisingly that he can't and he his humbled. The monkey is, of course, Hanuman, Bheem's elder brother, as both are sons of Vayu, the wind god.
- Milind
Posted by: Milind Girkar at October 28, 2005 04:22 AM
True, but the issue here is between Ganpati and Hanuman.
Posted by: MFM/Bhavin at October 28, 2005 06:24 PM
hmm....Being a Vinayagar(Ganapathi or Pillaiyar Ganesha..well a rose by any other name is still a rose right)follower I'd say Vinayagar is stronger...well he is after all the lord of obstacle...so if Hanuman were to come...as an obtacle to Ganesha...wouldn't Ganesha defeat him..
yeah I know I alternated between Vinayagar, and Ganesha...Well..a rose is still a rose!
Posted by: Suresh at December 2, 2005 11:45 PM
My kids will still root for Hanuman... or at least there is an animation movie on Ganpati
Posted by: MFM/Bhavin at December 11, 2005 05:22 PM
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