The 10-day Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations have started in the Hyderabad city. Needless to say that this is one of the popular and widely celebrated festivals in Hyderabad. This festival of fortune, prosperity and wisdom comes with loads of happiness for you and your family. It also is a festival that makes people better citizens, builds a sense of belongingness among people and more importantly, builds good managerial skills in youngsters.
We are seeing a lot of developments in the way this festival is celebrated, mostly at the street level. Earlier, there used to be one big Ganesh idol for 2-3 streets. It used to block the roads, people used to go door to door and collect chanda. It used to be like ‘hafta vasooli’.
Celebrations on the road side used to cause a lot of inconvenience to others. Only 1 set of people used to enjoy the festival – ‘youngsters’.
Today, it has changed a lot. We are seeing people celebrating it with more decency and reverence. People in apartments and small colonies are putting Ganesh idols in their parking space. They are not going out of the apartment for chanda. People are giving/sponsoring the things on their own. One flat owner will buy the Ganesh idol, one will sponsor for lighting, etc.
People come together and celebrate
Ganesh Chathurti is celebrated in a big way in Hyderabad apartments. Special prayers, devotional songs and group events are performed for all 10 days. People make it a point to gather for the Ganesh aarthi in the evening, they also offer prasad to Ganpati and later it is distributed among the people living in the apartment. This is one such festival where people come together; they don’t do the same for other festivals or even New Year.
Bonding time
As small events are organised in the evening, all the apartment people gather, and this is the time when they get to know each other and they gradually develop a strong bond of friendship. This way it is making a good neighbourhood, otherwise it is just a set of flats.
Helps kids build management and socialization skills
It is during this time that children actively participate in the event and see to it that it is carried out in a planned manner. They build team sense, controlling the event and managing petty things, while preparing for the event. All these skills are very valuable, as it will help them in the future to become more effective employees and managers.
Some suggestions from our end to make these celebrations enjoyable for all:
- Organize events like singing, antakshari, ludo, chess, etc.
- Play only devotional songs
- No music after 10 p.m.
- No dirty dances
- No liquor
- Don’t force people to participate
- Keep an emergency lamp near the pandal
- Respect other faith (religion) people’s beliefs
Enjoy, celebrate and have a lovely time this Ganesh Chaturthi!