A beautiful morning sunrise accompanied by the birds singing in the background, was a perfect morning to begin with. You actually feel like going out and welcoming the sun in. As soon as you step out, those influential rays seem like filling you up with a new enthusiasm. Enjoying a carefree morning and soaking up energy from the sun….we decided to begin our day. So we embarked the day with a simple and yummy breakfast, some dosa (I can’t recall the exact name) with freshly grated coconut chutney… it was so delicious.
The plan for the day was quite interesting. We were to accompany our hosts to their native village “Mithbav” to celebrate “Ganpati” and then go to a nearby beach. Our hosts (Loke’s) have a 100-year old ancestral home in “Mithbav”, where they celebrate “Ganpati” with their family every year. I was amazed to see their enthusiasm and passion for the celebration and the love for their culture. How many of us could possibly do that? Our hectic life styles and the craziness to do so much in a day don’t leave us with anything in hand. This city life has taken so much fun from us……..
The ancestral home was small with a room and a kitchen… but it was miraculously standing for all these years…and there were no signs of cracks or putty applied or any modification….even the wood was in comparatively better condition. I guess it had much much much better construction than what we have here these days.
Ganpati celebration began with setting up of the “aasan” (sitting place for Ganpati idol). The place was cleaned and decorated well for the lord by the whole family. The males and the kids of the house go to a place where idols are painted for this occasion, to choose and pick the idol they like to take home. The whole village had gathered outside this place to pick their respected idols and carry it home. So finally after looking at more than a dozen of idols the family decided on one. Before taking the ganpati, the face of the lord is covered. The head of the family picks up the Ganpati on his head and carries it all the way to his home barefooted. The sight of so many people carrying Ganpati all the way through the rich green fields was beautiful. This act of devotion was just phenomenal. Once they reach home, the females of the house welcome the lord as they do some aarati and wash the feet of the ones carrying the lord. Then, the lord is seated in his “aasan”.
All the people in the village received us with pleasure as they were very happy to show us around, we even went to some of Loke’s neighbors to have a look at their Ganpati celebrations. It was just very over-whelming as how these people treated us with humility, just because we are guests. I’m truly amazed by Indians when it comes to hospitality; I bet no other country can offer such humbleness.
So finally the “Bhat” (someone who carries out the puja) arrived, and we joined in the prayers with the family. Once the prayer was over, we all gathered for lunch. Lunch was served on a banana leaf, it had very simple and delicious vegetarian food that included bhindi, karela, cabbage, usal etc. …all prepared in traditional style. And how can I forget the sweet dishes, we had some delicious “karanjees“ and “modaks”, as they are considered the lord’s most favorite items.
It was a fun celebration, because even if we live in the same country….we still had so many things to learn from others. So catching up with them, knowing their beliefs, rituals was just wonderful.
We visited some old temples nearby the village. We were amazed to see ‘Bank of Maharashtra’ and ‘Post and telegraph office’ in this remote location. We also spotted a bright yellow house in the middle of the village. Most of the houses used vivid colors that blended very well with the simplicity of this place. “Mithbav” has a very popular beach nearby, so after we were done with the celebrations, we decided to go to the beach. An old temple near the beach and the look of the beach was just beautiful. A quite lonely beach and the sun was playing hide and seek with us. It had a perfect cycle….sunny, then cloudy and then rainy and then again sunny; this continued for all the time we were there. The lonely beach was just perfect setting to take a walk, we felt as our worries were getting washed away by the waves. It was enjoyable as we got a bit drenched, collected shells and felt in sync with ourselves…….. a feeling that is just un-explainable or un-describable……….
It was almost sunset so we headed back to our homestay, all tired but all worth it. We were all set for dinner (by the time you reach here you might be thinking that I’m obsessed with food….well I’m ;)) Dinner was refreshingly vegetarian…… we had mutter-paneer, yellow daal, some kothimbeer vadi with a rice bakri…… it was just delectable. During and after dinner we made sure we interacted with our hosts to make sure we don’t miss any insight.
The day had so much and we were looking for more tomorrow….. and we had planned for a hectic trip tomorrow……
To be continued.......
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