O Lord Ganesh - I pray to thee.
That is the literal translation of the title. Lord Ganesh being the highly acclaimed and universally (for people from all over India) known of the deities being worshipped. Part elephant and part man he represents a good start. As in people believe in prayers to Ganesh before beginning a new venture, a journey or a relationship at times.
All that said it also follows that in India which largely thrives on god worship as one of its largest industries, there are street festivals and celebrations to praise the Lord's doings or 'to be' doings. As in the blessings that all and sundry seek to get them going to do the doing, which oft times happens to be a lot of lazing. May be that is my perspective but then again I am not doing any of that praying so who knows.
Now Ganesh prayer and special celebrations abound in the Fall when the Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with much fanfare. It was originally crafted in the late 19th century by a freedom fighter for India to get public to unite against the tyranny of the British and a way to educate and entertain.
Today it is a commercial enterprise and I suspect has more nuisance value than any sort of moral or ethical or national pride aspect to it. All parts of India have a flavor of this celebration and it does provide a respite to the locals to be part of a Carnival like celebration for 10 days.
The American brethren or ex-pat partly out of nostalgia and part to educate their local citizenry in the US tend to host these events through some commercial sponsorship or donations at local temples. We try to make it to such event, time and logistics permitting.
So this year in a local suburb we witnessed this massive idol and associated celebration in the parking lot of a mall containing many department stores.
Now clearly Sears (or Macy's) could use the foot traffic associated with this event right outside their main door but I was certain that the clientele who wanted to mingle was not in the mood to explore the 'softer side of Sears'.
They came in traditional Indian garbs, some more decorative than the others not minding the 90 degree weather and socialized with like minded ex-pats. My family somehow does not partake into the entire affair with any particular gusto, including separating ourselves from our footwear to approach the idol for a close up look, but we did sample Indian sweet served as a Prasad (or holy offering) and look for an old friend in the crowd.
We were generally appalled at the chaos that was the humanity everywhere - from the wrong way cars rushing through mall parking to the trounced footwear all over that looked more like a train wreck than any prayer; the chappals did not have a prayer; (hey we take the tires off before we pray- even in a parking lot); to trying to grab a plate of food then leaving the waste to gather in several bins that looked like they had not been emptied for a year.
With the best of intentions Indian public seems to not have the process discipline to execute and that is evident in work and life. Hope one of these days the tides will turn as the millennial offspring of ex-pats urge a shift in thinking.
That is the literal translation of the title. Lord Ganesh being the highly acclaimed and universally (for people from all over India) known of the deities being worshipped. Part elephant and part man he represents a good start. As in people believe in prayers to Ganesh before beginning a new venture, a journey or a relationship at times.
All that said it also follows that in India which largely thrives on god worship as one of its largest industries, there are street festivals and celebrations to praise the Lord's doings or 'to be' doings. As in the blessings that all and sundry seek to get them going to do the doing, which oft times happens to be a lot of lazing. May be that is my perspective but then again I am not doing any of that praying so who knows.
Now Ganesh prayer and special celebrations abound in the Fall when the Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with much fanfare. It was originally crafted in the late 19th century by a freedom fighter for India to get public to unite against the tyranny of the British and a way to educate and entertain.
Today it is a commercial enterprise and I suspect has more nuisance value than any sort of moral or ethical or national pride aspect to it. All parts of India have a flavor of this celebration and it does provide a respite to the locals to be part of a Carnival like celebration for 10 days.
The American brethren or ex-pat partly out of nostalgia and part to educate their local citizenry in the US tend to host these events through some commercial sponsorship or donations at local temples. We try to make it to such event, time and logistics permitting.
So this year in a local suburb we witnessed this massive idol and associated celebration in the parking lot of a mall containing many department stores.
Now clearly Sears (or Macy's) could use the foot traffic associated with this event right outside their main door but I was certain that the clientele who wanted to mingle was not in the mood to explore the 'softer side of Sears'.
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| Ganesh seems to say "I want your vote - forget Trump, and I will make sure you get enough cash to shop next door" |
They came in traditional Indian garbs, some more decorative than the others not minding the 90 degree weather and socialized with like minded ex-pats. My family somehow does not partake into the entire affair with any particular gusto, including separating ourselves from our footwear to approach the idol for a close up look, but we did sample Indian sweet served as a Prasad (or holy offering) and look for an old friend in the crowd.
We were generally appalled at the chaos that was the humanity everywhere - from the wrong way cars rushing through mall parking to the trounced footwear all over that looked more like a train wreck than any prayer; the chappals did not have a prayer; (hey we take the tires off before we pray- even in a parking lot); to trying to grab a plate of food then leaving the waste to gather in several bins that looked like they had not been emptied for a year.
With the best of intentions Indian public seems to not have the process discipline to execute and that is evident in work and life. Hope one of these days the tides will turn as the millennial offspring of ex-pats urge a shift in thinking.
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