Ganpati Bappa I miss you.

Four years ago if someone would have even suggested to me that somewhere in the future you would be lying in bed on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi reading a thriller book by Mary Higgins Clark, I would have given them a look that would probably killed them. And yet, here I am doing just that.

Tomorrow it’s my favorite favoritest festival and I will be at work.

No staying up late tonight deciding on the last minute decorations. No bickering with my sisters about the food menu tomorrow. No sitting and telling my niece and nephew stories of yonder whilst polishing the silver elephants and mouse. No sermons by dad about putting out our best behavior for the next two days. No scrambling for arranging extra bed sheets, beddings towels for the staying over guests.

No sneezing over pollen from sitting amid the myriad colored flowers freshly brought on the morning from the Dadar Phool Market. No losing my mind over some last minute really important details for which dad already had ticked me off. No arranging of the mandatory Grapefruit for the naivadya for bappa.
No scrambling between Andheri and Vasai, and Parle to not skip the arrival of Bappa at the three family homes.
The color, the sounds, the music, the holiness, the aura, I will miss it all, again. The chanting, the people, the competition to take the last chord of the aarti to the highest octave.

Bappa, I will miss you, and my folks so will be busy looking after you and hosting you for the next few days. Bless our world and keep everyone safe. Give everyone what they well deserve.

Ganpati Bappa Morya.