Here’s a curtain raiser-cum-editorial on Ganesha Utsava, in Different Truths, by the Editor-in-Chief, Arindam. The countdown begins, as the Special Feature shall be released at midnight, just a few hours from now.
Ganesha, the harbinger of everything auspicious and the destroyer of all hurdles, the pot-bellied God, is a lovable deity. The 10-day Ganesha Utsava begins on Friday (August 25).
We, at Different Truths, hurriedly put together a Special Feature. Am thankful to our team of writers and poets, who wrote articles and penned poems in a jiffy.
We open the Special Feature with Geethanjali Dilip’s poem. She invokes the Lord, in her poem, Elephantine, weaving a string of stories and parables to invoke Sri Ganesha.
Nilanjana Dey, an authority on mythology, weaves a ballad. She retells the story of Ganesha, in verse, in her poem, Gajanana.
Anumita Chatterjee Roy, our Managing Editor, in a candid, soulful account, tells us that she forgot to join her palms in prayers. It was more of a discussion rather than a prayer. These talk sessions never failed. Read more in Ganesha in my Life.
For Ruchira Adhikari Ghosh, our new columnist from Delhi, it’s an auspicious beginning, she said. She tells us about the ten-day Ganesha Utsava, with its brief history, in her maiden piece, Jaya Jaya Ganapathy, in Different Truths.
We close the Special Feature, with a sensitive poem by Soumya Mukherjee, The Agony of Ganesha. In this poem, Ganesha is in conversation with His beloved mother, Parvati, and His unwillingness to visit the earth, while His mother reasons with him.
The ten-day festivity will be followed by a somber period, the Pitra (forefathers) Paksha, where Hindus fast, pay obeisance to their forefathers, bathe in holy rivers and give alms. It is believed that forefathers visit the earth, annually. Thereafter, it’s the Matri Paksha, a time of joyous celebrations, when Lord Ganesha revisits the earth, with his divine mother, Durga, and His three siblings Lakshmi, Saraswati, and Kartikeya.
We wish Happy Ganesha Utsava, which is not only a pan-Indian festival but is celebrated world over, wherever the Indian Diaspora is.
©Arindam Roy
Photos from the Internet
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Arindam Roy has over four decades of experience in various newsrooms of renowned media houses. He is the Founder, Publishing Director, Editor-in-Chief of Different Truths, and Kavya Kumbh Publishing Consultant (KKPC). He has co-authored ten chapters in six Coffee Table Books (CTBs) of national and international repute and is the sole author of four forthcoming CTBs (Times Group). He has also published four international poetry anthologies as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, participated in several poetry and literary festivals, and won awards and accolades. Arindam co-authored the novel Rivers Run Back with an American writer. He stays in Bangalore and Prayagraj.
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