Ganpati ji ko pata tha ki multitasking ka zamana aayega

There were three Indian festivals the day I was born - Kevdatrij, Samvatsari and Ganesh Chaturthi. Kevdatrij is like the Hindi-movies-favourite Karva Chauth; women fast for their husbands long life. While Samvatsari is a Jain festival(my mom is a Jain), Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most important festivals for Hindus. (dad is a nagar brahmin- hindu) My family was very happy - that I came on a day coinciding with festivals from both mom and dad side. Do I consider myself a Jain or a Hindu? I dont really know, but I am happy I share my birthday with Ganpati ji :P

While the actual birthday was on 12th of September, these festivals fell on the same day as per the Hindu calendar that day. We call it 'tithi'. Now these keep changing every year. While these were on the same day the day I was born, mostly they come on different days every year. As a result, I have some older members of my family wishing me 'happy birthday' on three different days every year.

This year in Mumabi I saw the Ganpati festival, which made me feel happy as I had a long celebration of my birthday(s) too! I celebrated the original one at an exhibition, as I was a representative there , so I cut a cake at the stall and cut one at work earlier this week (as before that one or the other person was on a leave) Friends got a cake at midnight on the birthday. 

There is this really amazing story of Ganpati when He was a kid. As He grew up, his folks asked him what He wanted to be. He got confused, so they placed a bajot (table) in front of him with all different objects like the feather(was used to write in olden days), sword, bow & arrow, etc. I am assuming they also kept food like ladoos and moduk maybe, as they are associated with Him so much :) Now Ganpati ji just couldnt pick up one thing. After sometime He simply picked up the entire bajot. This symbolizes that He was simply interested in everything, of course you all got it, still just explaining for the sake of it. Do I share that trait with the cool God I share my birthday with? Oh yes, on my crazy days when my mind is restless and keeps wandering, this is the one story I remember and try focusing my restless energies in a positive direction and try hard to do one thing at a time. But one has to multitask these days.

In Hinduism, Ganpati ji is like the number one God. He is offered the prayers before any other God when starting a pooja. He has two wives - Riddhi (wealth) and Siddhi (attainment/success) It is believed He comes with these two during a pooja and blesses the family.

Hope this new year helps me achieve my targets for all different things I want to do. Happy Ganpati everyone :)

P.S: A striking dissimilarity between me and Lord Ganpati; I could eat all moduks and ladoos but never share those with a mouse or play with it. I just scream whenever it comes near me. 

We are family

Last week at work my colleague Rehan asked me, “Is that Tarak Mehta of the ‘Tarak Mehta ka olta chashma’ fame your relative? As you are also a Mehta?” To his surprise I said yes. Tarak Mehta is indeed a relative of mine. He is my late grandfathers’ half brother. In my mother tongue Gujarati, he is my ‘dada-kaka’. He is a legendary writer of India as his column ‘Duniya ne Undha Chasma’ appearing in the magazine ‘Chitralekha’ has been made into a television sitcom which has garnered a lot of acclaim. Running successfully since 2008, it is now a household name in India. Taking it back to my conversation with Rehan, he was really surprised as he had asked me that question only because of my last name :P

Yes, we are family :)

He has been awarded the Padma Shri this year which is the fourth highest civilian award of India. Unlike some humorists’ who are not so funny unless they are performing (or in their write ups), Tarak kaka, as I fondly call him, has a great sense of humour.  He has a knack for coming up with hilarious answers to even the most serious questions. I am so proud of my lineage :)

Dadu and Tarak kaka 

           

Tarak kaka and his wife Indu kaki - when they came to see me first time after I was born

My late grandfather was also a writer. He is just my most favorite person in the whole world to this day. I called him dadu. He told me so many stories – which have made me who I am today. He told me mythological stories, explained to me our family tree and also told me of incidents when he and Tarak kaka were young. We spoke of everything under the sun and he used to always encourage me to express my opinion boldly. I would show him the essays I wrote at school and would regret it almost immediately; as he would criticize me mercilessly. However, there came a day when he started appreciating me and said I could be a writer. He passed away when I was 16 and I miss him so much. I wish he could have read this blog.

Dadu & I on uttarayan

Dadu, dadi and me

                                       

My favourite playmate

Love this pic

I had written a piece for my maternal grandfathers 75th birthday, which was published in a magazine he owned. I remember dadu and I had gone through it and he had edited it for me. He was so good with words and languages. Though he wrote in Gujarati, he spoke and wrote English very well. 

My maternal grandfather, nana is also a writer and a voracious reader. I have been lucky to have so many writers around me. 

Nana, nani and me

                                     

Nana and I

I used to love listening to stories from all of them and I thank them all for helping me think on different tangents. It has helped me not to be a psuedo–intellectual, which is the reason I can write. I find it funny when some people think their opinion is the ultimate one. I am fine if people agree/disagree with me. That's what keeps us communicating, isn't it? So why not take it in stride... ?