We only have what we give!

A quote from Isabel Allende came to my mind, when I read about Mark Zuckerberg announcing his decision to donate 99% of his FB shares to charity.
I put the quote on a tile that I photographed at Escardia Celeron at Rio De Janerio in Brazil earlier this year!

Ganesha 2014

Till date, we had not painted eyes on the idol. Because it's a skilled task and also because it is critical to the final look. I have always felt that the idol should be a similarity of the lord, but you should leave some details to the viewers imagination. I would love to leave the idol just like this with minimal detail

We decided to take a shot and paint the eyes, make a detailed 'tilak' on the forehead, and here's how it turned out! 

Added attraction this year was the second idol, the 'Peshwa Ganapati' from the eCoexist range. One that Sona liked the moment she first saw it last year. 

We had a third idol too, made by our friends Priya & Sarvesh. Watch this space to see a picture of that too! We had another fun Chaturthi!

ganesha 2014 : first look

here is the first look of our ganesha this year. and this time the son is at home to make it, so the feeling is even better. we've used two colours of clay, red for the human body and the grey for the elephant head.
the final finish and painting is still pending
may gajanana bring us all joyous times this year!

run up to ganesh chaturthi 2014...

while we were making our idol last year, sona had taken some video on her iPad. subsequently we added some more from chaturthi day - plus some stills of shikhar making his ganesh idol (last year, college projects kept him away at pune, so I made one idol initially and then he made another once he was back) - here is the compilation put together by shikhar - as we are less than two months away from chaturthi this time

temporary sheds have already come up like a small rash across mumbai. these are the ones that are set up for finishing and selling ganesh idols for ganesh chaturthi, coming up this year on the 29th of august.

we're planning, like the past few years to make our own this year too. the plan is for a few of us to make our idols together one day and then colour them a fortnight later. should be very good fun, and i'm looking forward to it.

click on the ganesh chaturthi tag to see posts of previous years idols..

shraddha = faith, shraaddh = anything done with sincerity and faith, a ritual for the living.

The popular belief is, that shraaddh is a ritual that is done to pay homage to the departed souls of ones forefathers. It comes from the sanskrit word, shraddha, meaning faith and it's literal meaning is, any act that is done with complete sincerity and faith.

Seen in this light (as against - it can be done only by the male child, you need to have a male child because only then can you hope for your shraaddh to be done etc etc) the ritual has relevance even today. We come together, remember the departed, offer a meal to crows and then have a meal together as a prasaad.

Yesterday, I preformed this ritual for my mother, my father performed it for his father and my wife, for her father.

My personal belief is that all rituals are for the living. Including this one. It is to help the living to come to terms with the loss, a way to finish unfinished business, say sorry, thank you and achieve closure. What is your view?

the second Ganesha, completed.

Shikhar came home, for just about 30 hours, painted his Ganesha and spent some good time with us. Then on the next day, the Visarjan day, the lord went back to his abode, and Shikhar back to his college at Pune!

Here's how we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi before Ganesh Chaturthi!

This is the third year of making the Ganesha idol at home and the learning curve is working here too. Details in this one are an improvement over the previous years.
We enjoy the whole process of making the idol.
Starting from looking for where to get the clay from (till last year, we were reusing the clay of the previous year and we started the year after we got a clay idol from the market, so haven't had to buy clay till now) to referencing for images to decide how the form should be. An online tutorial was of great help this year!
Adding details to enhance (added the pagdi this year since it helped getting the proportion right) and painting the idol.
The last two years, the idol was not painted - reason? Unaware of technicalities like drying time, our idol never really had time to dry completely, which is a pre-requisite to painting.
So, this year when painting seemed to be possible it was an adventure by itself. In order to make it as natural, we've used haldi, kumkum and abir. Each have been mixed with water and gum to make them workable and hold better. Finally the shawl, was another way to add a dimension and correct a flaw.
There is another idol too this year, but you will have to wait for a bit for the pictures!
Like Sona said, the Ganesh Chaturthi days for us are just a culmination. We've already celebrated our festival in the run up to it!
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

dawn on the ganga

Late February, a day before the last Maha Snan of the Maha Kumbh Mela, here's the scene - a little after dawn as we were headed for our holy dip in the Triveni Sangam. The next Maha Kumbh will be in 2157

prayer wheels at the monastery

The prayer wheels at the monastery. One can feel a very good vibration as you go past turning the wheel, symbolising one iteration of the prayer.

Ganesha 2012

Here's our Ganesha this year. Made at home like last time. Having started earlier, we should've had a more finished idol - but that is logical, right? Doesn't necessarily work that way.

If you compare this one to the last years idol, that one has simpler flowing lines and is more minimal. Goes to show that when you have limited time, you have to be selective and focus on the important stuff. So having lesser time to accomplish something might actually be a good thing.

 May Lord Ganesha the Creator of Happiness (Suhkakarta), Remover of Obstacles (Vignaharta) & Remover of Pain (Dukhaharta) be your guiding light!

in the same frame

There is a saying on the coast ' devak kalji' which means,'(don't worry)the lord is watching your back' - after I took a picture of this sign on the back of an autorickshaw, I noticed that the Ganesha idol in the dashboard of the car was also in the frame, almost as if it proved the point!

first attempt

here's my first attempt at playing with clay. done at the pottery workshop one sunday afternoon. the idea -currently farfetched, is to some day make an idol for the ganesh chaturthi pooja myself.

ganesh chaturthi at home

on an impulse we decided to get an idol and celebrate ganesh chaturthi at home this year. it was great fun since there was a very short time to put everthing together.

heere's how our idol looked

ganesh chaturthi 2009- idols being readied

here's an image of an idol being readied. even without colour and finish, something about it is very appealing

ganesh chaturthi 2009

the first in a few that i will post- every year i visit a few ganesh idol workshops a day or two before the festival and look for the smiling ganesha. this is from yesterdays visit- the ganesha in a kanha look

wishlist

Visited the Mount Mary Church this year during the festival and what struck me was the wide array of candles that were being sold in the stalls

I’ve heard of the Mahim Novena and the Velankanni Church, where devotees offer candles in the shape of affected body parts in the hope of a cure. But the range I saw on offer here was something else.

Baby girl and boy, man and woman, houses-from small to double storey ones, cycles, bicycles, autorickshaws, motorcycles and cars- not to say airplanes and entire ships! Pets, shops, offices – you name it and it was there.

When I was seeing all this, one of the stalls got more stock. ‘ baby, wedding, heart …’ he announced to the stall owner.

That got me thinking.

How do these people estimate what they need to stock? How does the manufacturer decide which moulds to use next?

How do they estimate demand? Or whats’s the wishlist order- the top 5 in the devotees’ prayer list?

I spoke to about ten of the stall owners and here’s the list in the order that I got it, with almost all concurring …

1. Health comes on top, and holds its place all year long: heart, limbs, and the like
2. Babies: yeah still more baby boys than girls
3. Marriage: more guys praying than girls looks like
4. Homes
5. Shops and offices
6. Vehicles: Motorcycles, Cars, Autorickshaws & cycles

The aeroplanes and ships I learnt were offerings bought by families for the safety of their kin working on board.

Ps: When I checked recently, almost a month later, I was told that there’s a spurt in 1 & 4. Would that be on account of people’s stress due to the market meltdown?

The benevolent one

In the run up to the Ganesh Utsav, the city is full of temporary outlets where idols are being readied for people. A week before the big day, I spent a couple of hours clicking away at half a dozen of these places close to home.

The completed idols are covered with plastic sheets to keep them safe from the elements, and I wasn’t sure how they would react to me rummaging through the places. A lot of them are very small and narrow with hardly space for one person to get in gingerly.

I was surprised as place after place I was welcomed and my request for a few pictures was met with a lot of enthusiasm. Some even offered to move the idols I wanted to shoot out and into the sunlight.

Here’s a picture of one of them painted in bright luminescent shade of red. One of my best pix of the day.