Om Ganeshaya Namaha

The ten days of worship

Ends tomorrow:

Every nook and corner of the city

Is dressed for the occasion;

Loudspeakers blaring everywhere,

Lighting adorns the roads

Luring people to visit the laborious idols

Adorned with festive feathers:

Donations collected,’ modaks’ for the lord of

‘Shubh’ sentiments and goodwill

This lasts for just 10 days;

Then all religiosity is drowned with the idol

As it is hoisted with pomp and show on trucks

Or carts, followed by noisy bands and loudspeakers

Blaring … and with reverence immersed in the cool

Waters until the next year arrives with the same pomp.

I sometimes contemplate

Is this the only way to exhibit our unity?

Is it necessary to drown crores to show off our piety?

“What about the noise pollution?”

“What about the waste of electricity?”

The money wasted in elaborate decorations;

What if the same celebration could be held under

One central place:

A park where all could pay homage

Instead of every nook and corner;

What if the collected donation could be given

To build shelters for the poor

Or for the welfare of old age homes

Where children rudely and crudely

Throw away their parents to rot and die

In grievance:

When will our dying humanity resurrect

From the collapsing vaults of morality;

When will man discover his innate goodness?

To give back to those who are less blessed

Yet have time to smile though their pockets are

Empty;

The poor are united in their poverty

While the rich and the flourishing

Pine and whine for more:

Om Ganeshaya Namaha resounds

Its resonance hails the beauteous

It spreads goodness, goodwill and blessedness

For all to heed

And brush aside the decaying fetters of humanity.

                                                                                                        ~ Shobha Diwakar

                                                                                                            Jabalpur, India