As truth be told, homecoming never gets old.”
― Hlovate
They have all gone home. Moving back to villages, traversing back on
those very paths that took them away, in search of hope and futures. But it is
now, during this week to a fortnight , during Chaturthi, that all roads lead to
home.
Amogh Prabhudesai comes from the Prabhudesai Boruskar family from
Poinguinim, Canacona, which boosts of over 100 family members. A senior
associate with a legal team in Mumbai, he is making his way to Goa for the
celebrations. “There is an entire ward called Boruskar Vaddo in Poinguinim and
all our family members, who are settled in India and abroad make it a point to
return home for the festivities. We must be the fifth generation to celebrate
the festival in the same house,” says Amogh.
Nilesh Mahale from Ugvem, Pernem is a teacher at People’s High School,
Panjim. He travels home to celebrate the festival for five days with his joint
family back home.
“There are nearly 20 members in the family, who have settled in Mapusa,
Ponda, Vasco and Panjim. It is always a great feeling to meet all family
members and participate in ‘puja’, ‘bhajans’ and ‘aartis’ with my friends and
neighbours,” says Nilesh.
“It is a lovely feeling as the festival revives our childhood memories
and the homecoming truly feels like we are home. I also travel to my ancestral
village in Sattari with my wife and son for Shigmo and Diwali. We have Ganesh
for five days and on the third day, my three elder sisters and their families
will be joining us. My three-year-old son gets excited to play the ‘ghumat’,
which he finds very interesting,” says Santosh Shetkar, a theatre teacher who
lives in Chimbel.
Nilesh Gawade is a Junior Engineer in the Electricity Department and
lives in Ponda with his immediate family consisting of ten members. He will be
visiting his ancestral village in Korgao, Pernem to join his extended family of
95 members to celebrate nine days of Ganesh Chaturthi. “Our ancestral house, constructed
on a wooden structure, consists of 16 rooms and has four separate kitchens. The
food for the entire family is cooked in these kitchens but the Mahaprasad and
Prasad are served together. We are the ninth generation of the family
celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi in the house,” says Nilesh.
Rajan Fulari from Siolim is a noted artist and a professor in College
of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow University. “Homecoming is always exciting. I have
been out of Goa for many years but our culture, tradition and mother tongue are
the only things in life that keep us rooted. I always look forward for Ganesh
Chaturthi, as it brings all family members together once a year, especially our
joint family in my home. My only concern and request with the system is to
promote traditional art and crafts during Ganesh Chaturthi, especially hand
crafted items, painted portal, rangoli, etc. I’m glad that St Francis Xavier
School, Siolim has started a Rangoli exhibition during Ganesh,” says Rajan.
For those who can’t travel all the way home from abroad, they have
prepared to have their own celebrations in their current homes. In Salmiya,
Kuwait, a group of 150 Goans have been celebrating the festival for over 25
years. Goa Ganesh Mandal started the festival in the late 1990s in Bachelor’s
camp and now this has been taken over by families of Goan origin. Nivedit
Vaigankar from Bicholim, who has been part of the committee for four years,
says, “Whoever goes to Goa prior to Ganesh Chaturthi brings an idol from Goa.
We celebrate the festival for two days and the visarjan is done in the Arabian
Sea. The festival is celebrated with the same vigour and excitement as we do
decorations, ‘Ghumat Aarti’ and prepare food together.”
And somewhere in the din and revelry of the celebrations abroad, there
will be many whose hearts will be humming these lines of the evergreen Simon
and Garfunkel number, ‘Homeward Bound’
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me
The last two
lines are especially true for forced bachelors abroad with their wives and
children in Goa.
To each of
them and to all fellow Goans, Herald Cafe wishes a very happy, peaceful and
loving Ganesh Chaturthi