By: Keyur Seta

A ruthless bunch of people playing drums at an insanely high level, their fellows bursting noisy crackers one after the other while spoiling the air as well as littering the roads, drunkards eve teasing the ladies. All this while the traffic is simply unmovable because of these ghastly acts. Hence, the common man is forced to stay indoors. Those suffering from illness and the students trying hard to study are helplessly forced to keep quiet about the terrible situation.

After reading the above description one might wonder if this is a scene from a party thrown by an underworld don for his gang. No; this is how Mumbai welcomes and bids farewell to arguably its most loved God – Lord Ganesha. Can there be a more insulting way to welcome, respect and bid adieu to the most adored almighty? The origin of the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi dates back to the pre-independence era when the great leader Lokmanya Tilak advised everyone to celebrate this festival in order to show unity against the British.

I bet today’s mischievous monsters don’t have an iota of idea about this. Or else why would they play sleazy item numbers in Ganesh Pandals? One friend of mine had to shut her windows this year since the Pandal near her house was ‘continuously’ playing Munni Badnaam throughout the day. And they call it a religious festival!

There are a number of pro-Hindu groups projecting themselves as the saviors of the Hindu religion and are always up in arms whenever they believe someone is hurting Hindu sentiments. Sadly and annoyingly, not a single person from any of these groups has ever raised a voice or protested against such acts; forget trying to make a difference. And needless to say, the problems with Ganesh Visarjan are much larger than mentioned above.

The fact that these groups are turning a blind eye on the situation, invariably rubbishes the logic behind their formation and existence. It seems they become active or their only purpose is to rubbish, criticize or ridicule ‘other’ religions or people from ‘other’ religions. If my accusation isn’t true, why are they ignoring such insulting acts against one of the most celebrated Gods?

We always pray to God to get ourselves out of a mess. Now, we need to pray to Him to save nobody but Himself from this mess!