The euphoria

 

The Euphoria

 

Finally, the citizens of Mumbai bid adieu to the Elephant God. For the first time my husband and I ventured on the streets to witness the nostalgic euphoria that envelops the city during visarjan. We explored the myriad emotions that devotees underwent while they were on their way for immersion.

 

We got to see an eclectic mix of Ganesh idols, some large ones adorned with flowers et al, placed in huge trucks, and some being carted away. On one side we saw the Trance Ganesha procession, with people gyrating to the thumping music played by DJs , and on the other some chanting apt shlokas accomampanied by the lilting tunes of the manjira.

 

As it always does when he is riding, Vaibhav’s mobile vibrated in his front pocket. Manish, his friend, called to say that Lalbaug cha raja was due to pass Byculla bridge. We raced our way to get there. I always wanted to visit the pandal at Lalbaug but the long hours of waiting in the serpentine queue always discouraged me. (My mother will kill me if she knows this) Anyway coming back to the euphoria… 

 

A sea of devotees had thronged the bridge and the adjoining road to catch the final glimpse of their favorite Ganesh idol. We were also one of them. The bridge was lined with a myriad faces, some standing and some comfortably seated. Another thousand heads peeped from the comforts of their own edifices. Muslims, young and old also worked their way through the crowd to join in the second celebration. The first one being the iftaar party that they had just attended where they gorged on the delectable feast. Hello, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I simply overheard. He he he!

 

No passerby seemed intrigued on seeing such a crowd as each one knew about the magnanimity and opulence that was synonymous with this Ganesh idol. In fact, he became one of us. Garlands of flowers were lined on the street to welcome the Lord. There was excitement in my heart as people shouted, “Lalbaug cha raja cha Vijay aso” (Let the king of Lalbaug always emerge victorious), and the sky lit with fireworks.

 

Lights reflected on the curved side of the walls of the building indicating its arrival on the decorated street. Instantly, necks craned to the maximum to catch the first glimpse, as the Lord made its appearance for his ardent devotees. There was a sudden exultation. Ganpati Bappa Morya, Pudchyavarshi Lavkar Ya, echoed on the streets. The entourage threw flowers from the God’s feet to the devotees and the crowd went berserk.

 

 

I joined my hands and said nothing else but, “Thank you O Lord for all that you have blessed me with”, and only watched its grandeur that was bigger than I had expected. Whoever you were, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, young or old, policeman or commoner, it didn’t matter, cause all shouted in unison, “Lalbaug cha raja cha Vijay aso”……

Reviews

[Ravenskald]

More please < I loved this little snapshot view of hindu culture, where I live we have a high a large an active Hindu community and this sort of dragged me in to the "unseen" life of my neighbours.
Thankyou for sharing this

~Raven