Ganapati 2006…8 days full of joy…

Last year I had missed Ganapati…
So this year I had planned for the week almost two months ago…
I simply did not want to miss it this year.
I was at home a day earlier so that I don't miss anything right from the preparations.

Since last year we started celebrating Ganapati at one more Amit's (my cousin) house too… so two places to enjoy at…

I really like this Ganapati days… we get to meet all the relatives. In that sense Ganapati celebrations become more important than even Diwali.

First three four days…. Simply full of fun…
We a bunch of brothers' n sisters gather and look after the decorations part at both the uncle's houses where we celebrate. The activity goes on till late night before "Ganesh Chaturthi". On the eve of the festival we all go and bring the Ganesha Idol home.

From next day start those magical days…
I really enjoy singing… at the time of "Aarati"… well classifying whatever I do under "singing" will be insult to the word…. Let's call it shouting… whatever it is I m good at it by default.
This time I got to do it 4 times a day… twice in the afternoon and twice in the evening…

Then come the "Jagaran" or keeping awake the whole night…
We had arranged for a traditional folk dance show known as "Balyaa Dance" at one of the uncle's home… All the elder public was enjoying the dance and at other house… the younger public was enjoying…. What we call as "Madira" ;-). Al though I too was part of this act... I did not like it somehow… later I felt that at least we should not have done it during Ganesh Festival… next year I shall oppose it…

Last day while taking the Idol for immersion…we tool it on a handcart.
I was the one pushing one. There is no steering mechanism in it. So you have to lift the rear wheels a bit and then turn it... put it back and push…

This one act all of a sudden raised respect for all those people who whole day roam around city selling various items on hand cart. This was an empty cart with just an idol on it. What about the people who go around with a cart full of onions and potatoes?

Only thing I missed upon during all this period was that I could not visit any of the relatives and friends for the festival. Mainly because we were too busy taking care of the people who visited uncle's home for the festival.

I visited Vinayak's home after a long time for Ganapati.
Another major event during this vacation was the inauguration of my cousin Pushpak's new office. He started off with his own lawyer practice.

I was simply not willing to return to Bangalore. But I had to…
So finally on Sunday night I headed back for Bangalore….