This story is from September 13, 2018

Chants of ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya’ to reverberate among Goan diaspora

Chants of ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya’ to reverberate among Goan diaspora
Despite being away from home, no celebration is complete without the bhajans, aartis and immersion of Ganesh idols
PANAJI: Miles away from their families and ancestral homes, Goans around the world will be joining members of other communities in celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi.
For Goans in UAE, the festival has fortunately coincided with public holidays for the Islamic New Year. “People decorate their homes and light up their balconies. Those who don’t have the idol, visit the temple in Bur Dubai along with members of Marathi, Gujarati and Sindhi communities.
The idols are immersed in the Dubai creek at Abra,” says Shilpa Dabholkar Tari.
At the Abra Station, while some hire small water boats to immerse their idols, others book an entire dhow cruise where people will participate in bhajans, aartis and have mahaprasad for dinner.“I will make it a point to take my child to watch the visarjan,” she says, adding that her family performs the puja and prepares prasad. “I prepare basic daal, rice, puri, chana masala, cabbage and bhaji and modaks. In Goa, it is easier to make many dishes as the entire family gets together for the festivities,” Tari says, while accepting that procuring items in Dubai is also not as laborious. “All the items, right from grated coconuts to lights and other decorations, are available in the supermarket.”
Dubai-based Jitendra Dabholkar and his family buy the idol from Chothiram supermarket at Bur Dubai. They try to make the festival as homely as possible. “Every year, we increase the height of the idol,” he says, adding that he is able to source almost all the ingredients in Dubai, except turmeric and colocasia (alu) leaves. “We make arrangements to get these from Goa so that we can relish authentic Goan food,” he says. “We keep the idol for one-and-a-half days and invite friends of all communities. We immerse the idol at Mazmar beach in the Goan style with bhajans, aartis and slogans,” he says, adding that friends come over to assist in decorations and food preparations.
At the Silicon Valley or the San Francisco Bay Area, there is a huge Indian diaspora and plenty of Indian stores to buy groceries from, Ruta says. “Most of us celebrate the festival at home during the week but go to the local temple to celebrate on the weekend. There are two big temples — one at Sunnyvale and the other at Livermore and multiple smaller ones scattered over the Bay Area,” Ruta says. Idols for immersion are usually collected in the temple and immersed collectively in the tank and the water recycledfor safety and ecological reasons.

“Children are also encouraged to make eco-friendly idols in the temple,” she says. Though not aware of any particular community celebration, Ruta says a lot of people, mostly belonging to Goan and Maharashtrian families, come together to take part in celebrations. The biggest difference in celebrations is that one has to go to work or school while celebrating it. The real festivities are pushed to the weekend.“We also miss getting together for prayers and aarti with our families. Not going to check on our neighbours Ganpati is also something I really miss,” Ruta adds.
New Jersey-based A Kamat celebrates Chaturthi with a big group that observes all Indian festivals together. However, having to go to work during the week makes it difficult to celebrate in the Goan style. Last year, Kamat celebrated with her Tamil friend from Mumbai who made an idol of chocolate and later melted it in milk and donated the milk to an orphanage.
Bhupesh Kurade, settled in Singapore, bought his eco-friendly idol on Wednesday for 25$ from local Hindus settled in the city-state for generations. Kurade will be celebrating for one-and-a-half days. He said most people in Singapore choose to buy organic idols online.
There are many community Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Singapore, but they cannot be compared to what one normally finds in Goa and Maharashtra, barring one that is organised by the Manahrashtra Mandal, he says. “It is celebrated at an Indian international school owned by a Maharashtrian. Many Maharashtrians and Goans take part in the celebrations there, while others celebrate in their homes,” Kurade says.
The mandal continues its festivities for five days with rituals and cultural programmes. As the idols are organic, visarjan is hassle-free and carried out in a local designated pond, says Shashank Pahade, a Maharashtrian based in Singapore.
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