A Lesson In Patience

Our area is always a pleasure to walk around. We find all sorts of interesting things to see.

Last week, I walked to the lab for my tests and on the way, was stunned to see lots of massive Ganesha idols. Left overs from the festival we had in September. I felt a little sad to see so many had been made and weren’t sold. And now, they are so huge, difficult to store and they’re just sitting by the road side, probably for next year or maybe a quirky buyer.

They’ve thoughtfully been covered with plastic to protect them from the elements, but that is fast wearing off.

Not their patience though. And Ganesha obviously has plenty of this particular virtue!

Some were beautifully colored, and some were not. Nevertheless, they looked poignantly beautiful to me. After all, Ganesha is one of my favorite forms and I have the urge to always go hug the idol when I see it. Considering these were taller than I am, it was a very feasible thought. I actually contemplated clicking a selfie with one of the idols.

Ha! Selfie with God. Yeah! Maybe I will, the next time I walk that way.

Here’s a quick refresher on the story behind Ganesha:

Once upon a time, the Goddess Parvati (Shiva’s consort) while bathing, created a handsome little child out of the sandalwood paste she was using. She loved him as her son and asked him to stand guard outside and stop anyone from entering the house, while she bathed. 

Now, Shiva returned home and was surprised to be stopped by the little boy Ganesha at the gate. He was enraged that anyone would stop him and cut off Ganesha’s head, assuming he was some outsider.  (Talk about being hasty!).

When Parvati came to know of this, she was upset. (naturally) To console her, Shiva ordered his disciples to bring him the head of any creature that might be sleeping with its head facing north. The disciples found only an elephant in that position. And so Ganesha got the elephant’s head.

Vidur has written a comprehensive post about Ganesha and you can read it here. Oh, but he does his research – and I quite enjoyed reading the post, even though I know most of it.

For now, here are the pictures of the God who zaps all obstacles!

What was interesting was – no two idols were similar. Pretty much like a fashion shoot – except the models all stayed put where they were! See? They sit resplendently in their painted on finery!

Some of them have a shelter over their heads, while some sit patiently in the sun or rain, as the case may be. Waiting for next year!

What a lesson in patience!

Linking up with the lovely Unknown Mami for Sundays in My City. If you enjoy world travel like I do, click the button below to see what everyone is up to!