Ganesh Chaturthi 2018

Bal Ganesh

It was Ganesh Chaturthi today – the day the elephant-headed deity was born. For the next ten days celebrations would continue, culminating in a mass immersion of

Rahman with mother, Nahid Khan

hundreds of thousands of Ganesh idols across the country. In between, smaller idols installed by the devout in their homes would be immersed every other day in a phased manner.
In the Club we know that Santosh Tyagi, Siba Prasad Maitra, Kiran Prakash and a few others have brought Ganesh home. So their absence in the Garden this morning could be understood. But what about the rest? We were no more than three to start the exercises.

Banoo Apa (r) brought us revdis from Ajmer Sharif

All those like Yusuf Rassiwala, Bhaswati Bose, Khatoon Baig and Rukhsana Khan, who would otherwise be present, were nowhere to be seen today. Even Hari Singh Shekhawat had done the vanishing act – reportedly, to answer an urgent call of nature!
But there were two positives. Banoo Apa, who was away in Rajasthan for the past few days, returned with a bag of crunchy revdis for us. She had visited the shrine of Ajmer Sharif with her sister (who is here from Paris) and family. She also had a lot of interesting stories, both good and bad, to narrate on the trip.
The other interesting development was the visit of Nahid Khan’s son, Rahman for the first time. A tough looking, but (actually) shy young man, he is a fitness freak and happened to drop by since his gym was shut on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. He did not want to miss his exercises. Nahid proudly introduced him to us and insisted on posing together to be photographed.
So here they are -- mother and son in the same frame, for keeps.

Lt Col Angad Singh (rtd):
Ganesh Chaturthi is not only a religious function, it played an important role in our struggle for Independence. It is good that Nahid's son was present today for a change. Good news.