Ganesh festival transcends religous beliefs

PUNE: A few weeks ago, Pinky Dolasha was searching the sweetshops in the city for the special jalebis without which the Parsi New Year is incomplete. These days, she is on the lookout for modaks to offer to the Ganapati idol at her home.
Ganeshotsav celebrations are an important part of the city's cultural identity and go far beyond religious beliefs.Not only do people of all religious persuasions participate in the community festivities, a few families of other faiths also bring Ganapati bappa home.
"Four years ago, my son Samir asked me why we don't bring a Ganapati idol home during the festival. We have always been involved in the celebrations at the mandal near our house. This really set me thinking and that year onwards, our family has been bringing Ganapati home every year," said Hujur Inamdar, who runs a transport business.
"I was actually inspired to do this because of my experiences in our village. We have two shrines dedicated to Baba Allauddin and Bibi Fatima back there. Every year, at the time of Urz, I have always seen the Hindus in the village at the forefront of the celebrations. In an atmosphere of so much communal strife, I think celebrating each other's festivals is a great way to work towards an understanding between communities," he said.
Inamdar said that the celebrations have been really popular with members of his extended family, who often drop by to join in at the time of the ?aarti' ? strictly performed at 7 am and 7 pm. The entire affair is run by the Inamdars themselves, who are well versed with the aartis and rituals involved.
In the Dolasha household, a priest from the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati Temple Trust comes in on the first day of the festival to perform the puja.
"Bringing Ganapati home has now become a family tradition. It all started 12 years ago, when the employees at the restaurant that my husband used to run in Mahabaleshwar asked him if they could perform the puja on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi. Since then, the business has changed and Ganapati now comes home instead of at the workplace," Pinky said.
"Everything had to be arranged in a big hurry. The idol was brought from Panchgani and we arranged for a priest to come in as well," her husband said.
Pinky added, "Growing up in Mumbai, I had always seen Ganapati brought to my friends' homes and I always wanted to do the same. When I got married and realized that my husband already did it, I was very excited."
Over the years, the Dolashas have evolved their own rules. During the days that the idol is at their residence, the house is never left empty. Someone or the other always stays on attendance near the idol in the living room.
"I think of the festival as an occasion when Ganapati has come to my house as a guest. How can I leave him alone," she signed off.