Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with much grandeur
in Goa. The markets are buzzing with activities as a number of colourful fruits and vegetables make their annul appearances. Hindu households are exceptionally busy and it is heartening to see
neighbours and friends belonging to different religious communities coming
forward to lend a helping hand, maybe helping out with the decorations or
lending household items like ladders and tools and even banana leaves. This communal harmony is more visible in the villages as these are the places of ancestral
houses that see family members returning especially for the festival.
Adrian D’Cruz from Mapusa says, “I have many Hindu friends
living in the vicinity and we spend a lot of time in each other’s
houses. In the evenings, we usually play football together, but during Ganesh Chaturthi, we leave our football shoes at
the door and step in to help in setting up the decorations first. That way
the work is done quicker and we all can play.”
Raymond Pereira from Varca has come up with a new initiative
this Chaturthi. He has created a few idols with fruit seeds, mostly Jamun, embedded in the clay idol. Once immersed, the seeds will
germinate. “The idea is to have an eco-friendly Ganesha filled with seeds so
once the idol dissolves into Mother Earth, the seeds will sprout as
His blessings. When I explained this concept, I was told it is late as the
idols are already ready for the festival. But last week, Shraddha Khalap and artist
Sachin Madage had a workshop in Mapusa teaching children to make eco friendly clay Ganesha idols. We made
a few idols there and I also have five Ganesh idols which I will give out for
free because it is for a good cause. This year is a trial to see how well it
works. Next year, we hope the project will be bigger,” says Raymond.
Navdeep Aguiar is an advocate and the son of John Aguiar,
Information Officer, Department of Information and Publicity, and Savita
Aguiar, Assistant Accounts Officer, Directorate of Accounts at Animal Husbandry
and Veterinary Services, Patto. While John is Catholic, Savita is Hindu and the children are not baptised and they have been following the Hindu
religion. “We had earlier decided to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi but as we were
staying in Government Quarters, we thought it would be proper to bring the Ganesh
idol and celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi when we buy a house of our own.
Two years ago, we bought our new house at Sonarbhat, Verem and last year we
celebrated Ganesh Charturthi for the first time at our own house. On that occasion, some other person had to keep the idol outside the residence and light crackers.
Later, the same idol was brought in and worshipped. Since all of us are working
people, we celebrate it for one and half days,” informs Navdeep.
“My father’s mother was Hindu and my mother, sister and
I are Hindus as we are not baptised. We follow Hinduism and my father follows
Christianity. I respect both the religions and celebrate festivals of both
religions. We used to celebrate Chaturthi at our maternal grandmother’s place at Mala Panjim earlier
and so we know the rituals,” explains Navdeep.
