All of us have probably sympathized with a friend or relative, who has gone through a rather prolonged rough patch in life for an inordinately long time, without any sign of remission on the horizon. To such an extent that the `patch' seems to expand and envelope the land mass around the victim. This happens, for instance, when an individual builds a house on a lake-bed which has been bone-dry for half a century just in time for incessant rains and a deluge to destroy it. Then he invests in a transport business, hoping to reap the reward of moving grains after a bountiful harvest, but an unusual diesel shortage and an enforced ban on movement of trucks ruin his chances. When he decides to sell umbrellas there is drought for a few years and when he chooses money-lending business because he had been a good borrower, he ends up with 50% bad loans. Add to this a weird accident which comes visiting without advance notice and in an unscheduled illness afflicting someone near and dear. My readers being intelligent and perceptive, would have grasped the lay of the land by now. There is no reprieve for this chap and when he cries in desperation `Oh God, why are you doing this to me', we tend to soulfully join in the sufferer's bleating plea. There are only so many blows on the snout that a man can take, you see. But what if God is in a similar plight?? Where does He look for succour?
During the recent Ganesh Chathurthi festival, as we were stranded in traffic due to that ubiquitous procession with an idol, this author's mind wandered to the aforementioned scenario and his dear wife gave the usual sympathetic and understanding ear to his ramblings. In that context, he wondered how big the Ganesha idols would end up in about ten years, having grown from 9" in height during his childhood to a mammoth 12' now. This was an absolutely thoughtless remark, which turned out to be a red rag to the bull of an ecological warrior in my wife and she turned an impassioned orator for one, for the next half hour. The car was completely stationary, providing a good and helpful platform for this and readers should imagine what happens to a captive audience in such circumstances. She was almost hoarse by the time she concluded her denunciation of the entire process of the so-called-immersion --recklessly dumping the huge idols in lakes, rivers and miscellaneous water bodies, thereby causing irreparable damage to the ecosystem. There is really no way of knowing whether it was the physical exhaustion or the incapacitated larynx or the emotional drain, which brought the proceedings to a halt, but let us say they cumulatively silenced her then. But I got to hear the left-over, two last paras of the declamation at home in the evening, when she picked up the strain exactly and effortlessly where she left it in the afternoon -- an uncanny ability indeed, you will agree!!
That night I had that strange and bewildering dream! A huge Ganesha idol, lying on His side, half immersed in sea water, some body parts badly damaged in the process of providing entertainment to man during the festivities, was crying out in anguish as to why people do this to Him year after year. He was carefully holding his trunk aloft above the water level, to avoid inadvertent intake of salt water -- understandably that was not His favourite beverage either -- just as we do while snorkeling. But doing that for long hours can be physically taxing and so traumatic even for the Gods apparently and Ganesha was close to breaking point....errrr....actually He was pleading to be broken up completely and immersed properly, so that He could get home and rest in peace rather than in pieces. This state of limbo in which He had to dwell for a few days (until people finished with revelry, help arrived and all the idols were disposed of some haphazard way) was roughly the equivalent of people being left struggling and gasping for breath, deep down in the debris of a collapsed building, He said. He wanted to avoid the same nasty predicament in future and looked like he was soliciting ideas. I must have blabbered something in my sleep, to the effect that if as God He did not know the way out, as a mere mortal, I was damned if I had a clue!! Very cogent for a sleeping man, you would agree. At this stage, the game was over because my dear wife was shaking me up violently, predictably wanting to gather information as to who I was in conversation with, why and about what.
Really, think of what we do to Ganesha in the name of a celebration. This spectacle of pandals, processions and immersions are way out of line as far as religion is concerned. They seem to be social manifestations of man's desire to impose his will on God. Otherwise, why would the simple ritual of a half-foot Ganesha idol in clay being piously moved from one's home to the well in the backyard for immersion in 10 minutes become such a farce? This cannot be called evolution, obviously because everything around the festival has only degenerated over the decades. Every part in this modern spectacle -- the unreasonable size of idols, the pomp, the collection of money etc, the drunken revelry, the blaring music and the contorted dance movements (the same dance as performed during marriages, funerals and festivals) and finally the damage caused by the immersion process -- should strike a rational community as woefully deviant, if only we pause to think. One is certainly not against the festival or celebrations but is sad as to how things are done. Nobody should be surprised if even the Gods are complaining actually.
I remember a story I read somewhere. Three friends of three different religious denominations, who do not know swimming, go out boating. In the middle of the lake, the boat suddenly springs a huge leak and begins to take water in. Everybody prays to his personal God. Two guys, whose Gods arrive promptly, are saved forthwith from drowning and taken ashore. The third one, predictably a Hindu, seeks the help of Ganesha. Lo and behold, Ganesha arrives and begins dancing to some blaring music, on the water around the sinking boat, much to the consternation of the devotee. When the frightened man questions Ganesha as to why He is not playing the saviour, Ganesha merely says `I am just doing what you people do to me every year'!! The story was not taken to conclusion, but being Ganesha, I am sure He did not let the devotee be `immersed' painfully slowly.
Yes, this author can empathize with Ganesha and fully understand His sentiments. Hopefully people would not wait till He decides to show his anger in some form!
