Author: Anuradha Mane
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 30, 2006
Faith has no boundaries and these five youngsters
from France, Holland, Colombia and Germany prove just that.
Living in a city that comes alive every year during the Ganesh festival, Laure
Duchatel (21), a French national, who works with an IT company as a trainee,
always wanted to be a part of the festivities and what better way than to
invite the Lord to her house?
So, Duchatel and four friends - all professionals
working in the city - installed a Ganpati idol in their house and follow all
the rituals, complete with the daily aartis and the prasad.
"I learnt about the Ganpati festival
from an Indian friend and was very interested in the festival. So, I decided
to have an idol at home as well," says Duchatel, who has been in the
city for about six months.
What followed next was a carefully planned
programme for the ten days of festivities. Choosing the right idol was the
first step. "We went to the Shaniwarwada area to buy the idol. We knew
that the idol has to be brought very carefully with a handkerchief covering
his face," she says. Once back home, the friends decorated the idol with
flowers, garlands and the quintessential durva.
Knowing well that modaks are the deity's favourite
food, they made sure the prasad included them. With a little help from their
Indian friends, the ceremonies weren't a hard nut to crack. Add to that their
background study of the festival and its rituals, and it was smooth sailing
thereafter. "We all dressed in traditional Indian clothes and it was
a unique experience for each of us. Indian festivals have such an exotic touch
to them with all the colours and the smell of incense," is what Fernando
Alberto Silva (23) from Colombia, who works with an engineering company says.
