Bozoical Visarjan Tales

Bozo, Mumbai's  only dog-with-his-own-blog  really cannot understand  the bipeds.

They celebrate the arrival of  Lord Ganpati Bappa with so much joy, and it continues for ten days of worship, and decorations, preparations of delectable prasad, and many social and cultural performances.  

At the end of the ten days, why do they "celebrate" the departure ?  In party mode ?  With so many suffering from an overdose of noise, pollution in the air, and other problems?

Of course, Bozo is privy to certain e-conversations with the mouse that is Bappa's vehicle, since both he and the mouse can hear much more than the bipeds.  All he can do is find his own solutions for dealing with this.  And Magiceye captured him in one such moment .....

You know,
I can hear much more
than you can.

In frequencies , that is.

And I have 18 muscles,
that allow me
to move my ears
any which way I want....

So,
unlike you bipeds,
I get to hear conversations
between
Lord Ganpati and his
transport mouse ,
as the immersion processions
trundle on
till late at night....

And I hear that
the Lord wonders,
why the bipeds
actually celebrate His departure
as if they are happy about it ?

Bands,
electronnic music,
woofers, people screaming
and dancing.
And then
a dip in an ocean
already crowded with junk....

Fortunately,
we dogs yawn
when we are stressed,
and I kept doing that last night....

But just think,
Bappa cannot even do that,
else
like it happened before,
folks will start
another celebration,
saying
Bappa wants to drink milk..... 

I hear
Bappa really likes
small children in parades,
school kids doing Lezim,
and devotional singing,
and
so misses it today....

I guess He already knows,
that politicians
have taken over his festival,
and everything
is now for
show of power.

Bappa doesnt vote,
so no one will listen to Him ....

Maybe he should.
Teach everyone a lesson.
In sense,discipline,devotion,
and concern for your fellow citizens...

Ganpati Bappa Morya !

Worship technology....

A very perceptive click . At Pali, in the Raigad District of Maharashtra,  at the famous Ballaleshwar temple, off the Mumbai-Pune highway, the abode of the famous temple  constructed bt Nana Fadnavis, in stone, to replace the original wooden temple, in 1760. The temple is constructed in such a way that after the winter (dakshinayan : southward movement of the sun) solstice, the sun rays fall on the Ganesha murti at sunrise. The temple is built with stones which are stuck together very tight using melted lead.

 Photographed  by  a member of the Bisons Ride Hard group, that recently went on a 4 day Dashavinayak darshan by motorcycle across Maharashtra's Ganpati Temples.

CCTV's seem to be the technology of choice, allowing  the devotees a two dimensional darshan of an n-dimensional Lord.   Many years ago, one could peer in at the door, under special circumstances even get closer to the Lord.  There were then no steel railings; just self defined ones in the mind....

Things have changed.

The head understands but the heart does not.

I just have one question....and no answers !   

Cool Gaabharaas,
Sanctum Sanctorums,
resplendent with
ancient stone,
gold, silver, vermilion
and silk vastras,
atmosphere redolent with a
dedicated mixture
of
dhoop, agarbattis, lamps,
jasmines, roses, hibiscus, 
milk, panchamrit,
and Durwa
amidst recitations
of prayers
and revolving aartis....

No one allowed in
to see Him,
but a view
on a flat,
depthless television screen
makes everyone
believe,
pray, and behave.

In daily life too,
we don't see Him,
know he is there,
but strangely,
folks don't behave....

Why ?

The Lord Zooms....

My blogger, photographer,,travel-writer friend Nisha Jha, who blogs here and has travelled solo in various far eastern countries, also maintains a page , Le Monde -A poetic travail   where she posts amazing photographs  and writeups from her trips, amidst new places and peoples.

She posted this picture of a giant hibiscus variety that she saw in Malyasia, and the hand you see in the photograph is hers;  held specifically, so that you can imagine the size of the hibiscus.

The first thought that came to mind on seeing this, was that of Ganpati (or Lord Ganeshji)  , who  loves these flowers, and is worshipped with the red variety of these flowers.

Am putting own here the first thoughts that came to mind (in Hindi).....and then possibly a completely inadequate translation in English....

(photograph by Nisha Jha)

मन में भक्ति हो ,
और सब के प्रति
सन्मान और प्यार हो,
तो
छोटे हात से दिया तोहफा
भी
गणेशजीको  झूम  किये जैसा
बड़ा दिखता है .....



When you worship
in complete faith,
and hold
love and respect
for
all your fellow beings,
even a small offering
made to Lord Ganesh
is seen by him
in a
Zoom view.....!