We make our way down the main street of Gandhi Bazar on
the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi; the familiar sights and sounds, especially the chatter
of the people breezily wading through the mad crowds, evoke deep-rooted
memories of another era. Our family was
staying at a house in the vicinity some decades ago. This was the quintessential Bengaluru that
has been associated in my mind with its quaint beauty and naivety of the happier
times that I am talking about. The time was
when Ganesh Chaturthi, the popular festival of the South, was celebrated with great
pomp and gaiety, amidst my abiding faith in Lord Ganesh, that had characterized
my mind as a young boy in the seventies.
The procuring of Ganesh idol by the devout on the eve
of the festival day was a big source of excitement. The first and foremost activity was visiting the
different stalls put up by small time Retailers, in order to enquire and settle
on the correct market price for the chosen size of the Ganesh idol. The next activity was to find a Ganesh idol that
sported a particular kind of ‘tilak’ that was acceptable to the category of the
sub-sect of the devout. I was told to
look for a Ganesh idol that sported an “exclamation” (!) symbol painted in black,
on its forehead. Most of the Ganesh
idols exhibited in the stalls had three white horizontal bars on its forehead;
which was the most common and popular ‘tilak’ among the devout; but I was told that
this form of ‘tilak’ on the idol did not meet with our family’s sub-sect parameters.
I did remember that some of the more enterprising
vendors had offered to make some minor alterations to the ‘tilak’ on the
forehead of the Ganesh idol instantly from a differently designed ‘tilak’ to
the one that we had requested. The style
of the ‘tilak’ was a non-issue to the Idol vendors; but to the devout, like us,
it mattered very persuasively. Buying
the Ganesh idol with many other required pooja items and cavorting home was like
competing in a marathon; with rain gods, usually playing spoilsport (it
invariably rained in Bengaluru; the festival normally arriving at the end of
monsoon season).
As the day of the festival dawned, having an oil bath early
in the morning and donning new clothes stitched for the occasion (ready-made
garments were not very popular back then) was indeed, a great excitement. After the elaborate Ganesh pooja was over, the
sumptuous lunch at home was a huge affair; especially, as the meal was
embellished with the soft chewy jaggery and coconut dessert packed inside the fried
flour shell (the treat was called kadabu in kannada or modak in Hindi/Marati). Ganesh Chaturthi was incomplete without this
sweet dessert; it was believed that Lord Ganesh loved this sweet treat
tremendously. Lord Ganesh had a mouse as
his vehicle. If you notice closely, the picture of the mouse is depicted at the
bottom of every Ganesh idol. How can any
human being (Ganesh being three-fourth human) ride on a tiny mouse; wouldn’t
the mouse get crushed underneath! This
thought was a source of amusement to younger self. As the story goes, watching from the skies the
Moon also did have a moment of humungous merriment at the spectacle of Lord
Ganesh, riding on a tiny mouse with his swollen belly and a huge elephant trunk,
fall off from his tiny vehicle (the mouse) while roaming around gleefully after
having a hearty meal; this sight, was a source of uncontrolled mirth to the Moon.
The story continues that Lord Ganesh
became hugely angry with the merry laughter of the Moon and placed a ‘curse’ on
the Moon; and due to this irreversible ‘curse’ on the Moon, the devout are barred
from viewing the Moon during Ganesh Chaturthi.
As if by some divine intervention, the Moon would be clearly visible between
the passing clouds on those Ganesh Chaturthi nights; I distinctly remember that
my eyes would stealthily dart towards the skies (perhaps, as a sort of involuntary
dare, especially when you are told not to look at the Moon) and upon sighting the
Moon from the corner of my eye, I would soon look away with trepidation,
remembering the ‘curse’!
The evenings of the festival day held another great
excitement. A few of us mates had a sort
of pre-arrangement every year, visiting and prostrating before the Ganesh idols
in innumerable homes of neighbours; and sometimes even outside our familiar locality. Our target, each year, was to visit 108 homes
and prostrate before the Ganesh idols. Before
stepping into the homes of unknown people, we used to look for signs of any dogs
in the compound. We were scared of Alsatian
dogs. Once we were sure there were no
dogs around, we confidently stepped inside the gate. As a group, we would step inside the homes and
prostrate before the Ganesh idol, one after the other. Some of the home owners treated us to a small
snack or sweet, which was usually, baked chickpea masala or finely ground
yellow gram mixed with sugar and coconut. This treat could be one of the attractions
for us to venture into this activity.
It was a stupendous task, believe me, going about visiting the homes
of unknown people with the target of reaching 108 homes in mind. However, to my great consternation, I never
achieved the target during any of those years.
The rhythm would get broken somewhere between the 20th or 25th
house visit and I would return back, to my home, citing flimsiest of the reasons
to my mates. Possibly, this could be one
of the reasons that Lord Ganesh, the Supreme God of Learning and Education hasn’t
blessed me with any great learning or education!
