Ganesh
Chaturthi is a festival that brings together family members scattered around so
imagine having to be in a far-off land while your family is back home; the
feeling is inexplicable. The desire to do away with this forlornness and
welcome Lord Ganesh into their homes away from home, a group of Goan bachelors
formed a committee to celebrate the festival in Kuwait, where many Indians,
including a huge number of Goans, are working.
The idol for
the festival was taken from Goa well in advance. “‘The idol is worshipped in
our apartment in Mahboula which is a bachelor’s accommodation provided by our
company, Kuwait Resource House. We have been celebrating the festival for the
past two years and we take all the necessary permission from the company,” says
Nivedit Vaigankar, founder and president of the committee.
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The
preparations started one month in advance as the boys have to work during the
day. They used to meet up after work to plan the designs for the ‘matov’ and
hand out other responsibilities. They divided themselves into two teams which used
to go out shopping, searching every corner of Kuwait for all the items required
to decorate the ‘matoli’. The materials that are not found in Kuwait are
imported from Goa, especially the requirements for the ‘puja’ and the idol.
“Our motto
is to keep everyone happy and not to let them feel that they are away from
home. We do everything that is typically done in Goa and create such an
ambience that everyone enjoys the festival in Kuwait. We all know how it feels
to be away from home, especially away from our families. Our hard work pays off
as people who visit our apartment to worship the idol appreciate our work and
creativity,” says Nivedit.
Currently,
there are 20 to 30 boys who help in making this festival successful. “We start
with the ‘puja’ for two days and ‘aarti’ exactly the way it is done in Goa. We
do the ‘visarjan’ in the Arabian Sea. Nearly 200 Hindu families, mostly Goans, but
some from other places of India as well, who are working here in Kuwait, visit
us for the festival and we make all the arrangements right from ‘puja’ to ‘mahaprasad’
and even serve lunch and dinner,”adds Nivedit.
Besides
Mahboula, Ganesh Chaturthi is also celebrated in other Kuwait cities, namely,
Fintas and Abbasiya.
