Yesterday morning, I woke up to a beautiful view as the sunrays entering my bedroom from the window shed their warmth on my face.
The waves were swashing and surfing in all their grandeur, the orange hues highlighting the puffy cumulus clouds, and the sight of the infinite sea welcoming me as I looked beyond its boundaries, enjoying my first dawn in my new home.
People say, you’re lucky if you get a chance to stay in a sea-facing house in Mumbai, and now I know why.
But during the course of the day, as the seawaters receded, I caught sight of something that revealed an important aspect of life and made me realize what life is finally worth.
By the way, the previous night, I witnessed Ganpati immersion too from my room.
Being Anant Chaturdashi, the day when Lord Ganesh returns back home, people flocked to the shore with beautiful idols, dancing to peppy dance numbers, bursting crackers, chanting Ganpati mantras, and reciting Aarti as they bid farewell to Bappa.
The shores went silent before the sunrise, without leaving any evidence of the previous night’s bustle.
Lucky me, I could witness all this from the comfort of my house and also learned a very important life lesson too the very next day.
So coming back, it was around 12:00 in the afternoon; the day was hotter than usual, and there was no one on the shore. Just a few eagles hovering over the receding waters, some dogs barking at each other as if trying to prove their supremacy in their fight over grabbing some prasad leftovers.
Amidst the otherwise muddy puddles created by the receding water, I saw some shadow formations. Initially, I couldn’t make out what it was, but then, as I zoomed in on my camera, I could see a clear picture.
Not one or two but tens of Ganesha idols, lying there in absolute solitude.
After a while a few children from a nearby chawl went running towards the idols, but to my disappointment they’d probably gone there just to search for coins that people might have offered during immersion. The idols kept silently watching as the children returned back after collecting whatever they felt was worth their labour.
The dogs too returned back after enjoying the prasad leftovers.
By then the waters had started to swell again.
For the next couple of hours, the Ganpati idols kept facing the harsh sea waves all by themselves.
Again at night as the water receded, I saw some people roaming around but none of them even cared to look at those idols.
Only Ganpati knows what they were searching for around his idols…
Around 1:00 a.m., a JCB came to clear the beach, supposedly. And when I woke up the next morning, the area was as clear as before. The idols were gone….
Probably with the tide into the depths of the ocean….
No, it can’t be possible because the sea doesn’t carry anything with it….
So where did they vanish?
Yes, probably the JCB took the waste away to clear the beach….
The waste
After the festivities were over…
The idols were gone, but before that, they showed me the true colours of life.
For nearly 24 hours, those so-called immersed, disposed off idols lay there, unattended, uncared for, and overlooked.
Isn’t that what life is too…
Till the time people find you useful, they flock around you, be friends with you and sing hymns in your praise.
Till the time you are worthy of giving and full of life, your family shows up to you and celebrates you as their saviour.
Till the time you are energetic and able to run around and have the capacity to solve problems, the world waits to seek your approval, guidance, and help.
But when you lose your ability to function as per others’ wishes, you are easily forgotten.
Discarded as if you never existed.
It’s difficult to build relationships but very easy to ignore them.
But that’s what life is all about. You are either revered or immersed and forgotten, and this depends on your capabilities.
And once when people realise that you are no longer capable of benefiting them, they move ahead, and you like that so-called immersed mute idol, keep observing life…..
Life that continues to move…
With you or without you…
But definitely without caring about you….
And your thoughts.
But this definitely raised a question in my mind….
How far is this MORALLY correct…
?????
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