Ganesha Comes To India
Sitting at Mt.Kailash all day is just so boring
He knew he had to get away from his house
So, the pot-bellied God decided to go touring
He packed his bags and whistled for his mouse
Deciding where to go was a bit of a bother
He looked at the globe and tried to pick a spot
Into the room entered his well-travelled brother
He took a pen and on the globe put a random dot
The dot landed on a country in Asia
A land steeped in history and with lots of fame
‘This is the perfect time to visit it’ interjected Kartikeya
‘They are even celebrating a festival in your name’
Elated, Ganesha clambered on his steed
And onto Bharat the elephant god descended
He made his way to the country at top speed
But, little did he know this trip would leave him sad and offended
Pandals were everywhere, left and right
The city was celebrating with a lot of fanfare
Ganesha made his way to one glowing with a big blue light
But not before checking into ‘Mumbai’ on Foursquare
The line was long and Ganesha was worried
Whether he would be able to enter
But, quick as a whistle, a youth to him scurried
‘VIP Pass chahiye kya sir?’
Ganesha thought aren’t all equal before the Lord?
Then what is all this business of VIP
But, the ingenuity of these Indians one must laud
Where equality is directly proportional to the rupee
He walked in and saw himself with a crown and a shawl at his waist
Ten feet high and bedecked with silver and gold
The opulence disturbed him and he thought it a waste
When just outside poor children shivered in the cold
He saw bundles of notes being placed at his feet
For people wanted their problems to be solved by divine intervention
He asked a donor ‘Why waste this money when people in this country have no food to
eat’
‘No clothes , no jobs or education?’
The donor seem puzzled and didn’t even reply
He spat on the ground and let out a curse
Isn’t it just like us Indians to not even try
To look at the God who is right next to us
Ganesha went to another pandal and yet one more
But found nothing new as they were all the same
With pictures of local ‘netas’ at their door
And instead of delight, Ganesha felt shame
Ganesha sighed and went on his way
Telling his mouse to return to Swarga fast
But, the next day was Visarjan Day
And what he would see would leave him aghast
He saw in the processions, people bicker and shout
He saw them standing in front of his idol drinking
He heard the Honey Singh songs being played aloud
And the louts teasing women without even thinking
The devotees sang the final Aarti with one big roar
They threw the idols into the sea and gulaal into the air
The next day ‘God’ would wash back onto the shore
Cracked and broken, nobody would care
And lo and behold Ganesha wept
For he could not stand this debauchery
And into his mind melancholy crept
For he did not see a festival, but a mockery
But, then he saw a little girl carrying a clay Ganapati figure
He smiled at her sensitivity and the way she thought
She placed it in the water and on the beach, she did linger
Just to check if it would dissolve fully or not
When they could see the idol no more
The girl and her family bowed to the ocean
And Ganesha felt happy to the core
For him, this simplicity was true devotion
He cared not for the lakhs of rupees
Or the loudspeakers or the gold shawls with intricate art
His happiness came from those devotees
Who kept Ganesha in their heart