ganpati festival in colony part III

The last day of the festival was eagerly awaited. Morning poojas as usual and there was a bit of nostalgia for the good days gone by and the friendships fostered. We went back home just to take a break and be back for the community lunch. Yes, all residents were requested not to make lunch in their homes but to join in 'langar'. I believed that there would be catering service. But just as we were coming out of the morning pooja with heavy prasad, we saw huge vessels on the stoves near the library/play area. I also saw some ladies cutting vegetables. Some of the houses had engaged cooks on a regular basis and they were 'leased out' to the colony function on that day! It came as a good surprise to me, so I lent a hand in cutting cucumber for the salad.

Lunch was a great experience. No it was not the menu which was quite homely and tasty. It was the service! We sat on the floor and were served by fellow calyxians with lots of love and affection. In true Indian tradition, we were asked and served repeatedly all the items on the menu. After a very satisfying experience we retired for a while only to be back for the prize giving ceremony and the visarjan pooja by priest thereafter.

Then the volunteers carried the main deity and other calyxians carried the smaller 'personal ganpathi idols which had been added on to the main deity during the week.A procession around the colony accompanied by crackers and loud chanting of 'ganpati pappa moriya' and then the journey to the lake began. While the main deity was carried in a van, many of us followed in our own vehicles and it made a big procession in the winding roads to the Begur lake. We saw other ganpati idols getting ready for the 'visarjan' on the way.Thankfully there was not much crowd and we were able to go near the waters and amid chantings were able to perform the immersion. Couple of boys were around to take the ganpati right inside the lake and ensure he gets a proper immersion. There was a small girl with her parents who did not want to let go of 'ganesha', and kept saying 'no go ganesha, no go'. Her mother pacified her saying he is not going anywhere, he will come next year.

We got back to the colony and felt like coming home soon after performing a family wedding!

ganpati festival in colony part II

Well, initial preparations were over, and the Ganpati idol arrived the next day. It was actually sponsored by one of the residents. A priest was invited to perform the installation and puja thereafter.

Everyday for the next 9 days pujas and aarthi was performed by the ladies predominently.11 am and 6 pm were the puja timings and strictly adheared to. There were enough volunteers for preparing 'prasad'. We had a taste of 'kesari' the most 'unifying' dish in India! Evening bhajan times had better turn out than the morning, obviously. Jai jagadeesahare was the common theme song.We had very good singers from Kolkatta, Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, TamilNadu, Andhra,Punjab and almost every other state. Of course lots of jostling for 'state representations' had to happen! The religious fervour of the young ladies here is what appealed to me most. They took great pains to prepare for the puja deligently twice a day for all the days. A very devout elderly couple performed the lead role on every occasion. God bless them. The ' prasad time' at the end of the pooja was the great networking time. I for one was slowly able to connect their names, with the flat nos. Oh 'flat number"' is the equivalent of a 'employee id' here in the colony.Without that you are a nobody!. I took a note book and kept it near the prasad counter and requested the ladies to mark their flat nos, against their names.Some of them were very suspicious, I had to assuage them that it is meant for jogging my memory and will not be 'misused".Now I can connect faces with names and flat nos to about 15 ladies!

On saturday grand sports competitions were planned. Right from 10 am there was a steady stream of players making a beeline to the sports hall. TT had the maximum participation from the men and hence had to continue on Sunday also. Carrom and chess also had good participation from ladies and children. Invariably there were rescheduling and cancelling of nominations, as the residents came out with myriad excuses and entreaties for change in time and date. I heard from many a participant that they are taking up the sport which used to be their passion, after a very long gap. One could see the pleasure and anticipation in every one of them.

There was a dance programme by the small girls and they made a pretty picture with twirling umbrellas and glittering costumes and smiling faces.

While we were waiting for the girls to come on stage, there was a "commercial break" of lemon and spoon race. It was really hilarious and a tremendous 'ice breaker". There were several participants who were so keen on running and hitting the goal post, that they never saw their lemon falling off the instant they took their first surge forward. The mothers were very keen that their wards make a good show of themselves, so were giving them all precautions and procedures.The ladies event was also good fun, with most of them hitting the final line with their spoons and lemon intact. "Yes, women are quite balanced!"

This brought the curtain down as far as the activities were concerned and all eyes were on the 'visarjan'

ganpati festival in colony

The colony has a vibrant community life. I discovered it recently during the just concluded ganpati festivals. The entire colony came together and celebrated the event in a most spectacular way. I am a new entrant here and hence was watching the preparations with keen interest.

Of course the first step was a circular being sent out with appeal for donations. The first entry was 500 rupees and hence it set the standards for the residents. The next part was forming an organising committee for which volunteers were invited through the 'google groups forum'.Unfortunately this left out the 'parents; parents in laws of the colony to a large extent! It was not intended I am sure. But what else do you expect from the residents who are predominently IT professionals. By posting on the google groups, they sincerely believed that they have kept it open to everybody. A few days later we were informed of the constitution of the committee. Soon enough, programme details followed.

This is what made me sit up and take notice. The programme was literally spread over 11 days, no jokes, with two weekends included.

The party hall was the venue for the puja and other activities. Initial two days were spent in collecting decoration materials and having a small group of enthusiastic ladies sit down and 'do up' the room.

The stage was all set for installation of the deity the next day.