New beginnings : another Ganesh Chaturthi in Bombay

The best time to return to Bombay ...after a six week whirlwind tour of North America I am happy to be back home . And it's September , always a favourite month when after weeks and weeks of rain and grey cloud cover , the skies are a brilliant blue with the puffy white clouds and the washed green of treetops creating the most refreshing mosaic when you look up. And it is that time of the month when Lord Ganesha comes to the city on his annual visit . 

My mind goes back to another September morning just short of forty years ago. Dr Bhatvadekar's Maternity Home , next to the Post Office in one of those cool, leafy lanes of Chembur and just above my bed to the left is a small window through which I can see bright sunshine touching the leaves with gold and making the brilliant bit of blue sky even bluer and the clouds like cotton wool puffs. Beside me is my new born second son , eyes scrunched up tight and sweet lips pursed in an endearing pout. And through the window flows in the mellifluous sound of devotional songs from the nearby Ganesh Mandal.

New beginnings indeed . The rains are gone , the sun is out , Lord Ganesha has set up his residence once again  and we have a new baby. And every year , come September , that remembered moment flashes in my mind's eye with unbelievable clarity and I am transported to that magical morning . My husband walks in holding the hand of our first born , all of 20 months but all of a sudden the big brother , and a little boy now in his own right . 

No matter Dr Bhatvadekar's Nursing Home , that elegant edifice in stone and wood is lost to "Redevelopment" and those innocent and simple Ganesh festival celebrations today have been replaced by vulgar display of political wealth and clout , the morning of Ganesh Chaturthi , every year never fails to fill my heart with joy and hope .