Endearing Ganesha

I am not an artist by any stretch of imagination.

It has become a practice for me to make a clay idol of Lord Ganesha for his birthday – Ganesha Chathurti – every year.

I wonder how I make these because I can’t make anything else out of clay or, for that matter, out of anything. I do not plan how to make a Ganesha – I start making and He ends up being a Ganesha.

When I was a lad, this festival was next only to Deepavali in terms of having to look forward to it months in advance. Neighbours used to pool in money to buy a large Ganesha idol. We used to celebrate in our house as it had a large hall. We had the festivities for ten days and on the tenth day the festivities reach the climax with the immersion of the idol in a nearby lake. That’s how I got introduced to this God.

When we moved out of the city, my brother, used to make Ganesha idols every year. When I got a job and moved out – I started making my own idols. I have been doing this for the past few years and all, I think, have come out satisfactorily. People who have looked at it have appreciated, even in my absence – so I understand from my wife.

How do you make Ganesha – well, I wouldn’t know. All that I know is that he has to have an elephant’s face and man body, an obese one at that. He has to have a huge belly and cherubic face with a child like innocent expression in his eyes. That’s how I see him. He could be of any size, shape, colour, stance and demeanour.

The Ganesha I made last year looked majestic, regal and seemed like a person sitting over judgement on every thing that happens in the world. This year He is relaxed and seems as though He is enjoying himself in a beach resort.

Today while making Him, I wondered at Him, how do You take shape. It’s definitely not due to my ability or skills. And then it struck me.

It is not what I make becomes a Ganesha. It is what I see becomes a Ganesha. Whatever form He takes, the fact is I look at it as Ganesha. And when you see something you come to love you see no blemishes. When others see it, they see it with love and affection and see no blemishes either. That is why He is the One who removes blemishes. I feel that He never removes them – He only makes you not see them. . It’s all about endearment. That I feel is what humanity is all about. And that’s what Godliness is all about.

When you see with love – whatever be it – you do not see blemishes.

That is why Ganesha is a ubiquitous God in India. Hope we all see Ganesha in everyone and everything. Hope we all see no blemishes in everyone and everything.

Ganesh Chathurti – 07^th September 2005

Security Paranoia

It’s no exaggeration to say that we are terrorizing ourselves to death. This feeling of insecurity has pervaded every possible life stream and has permeated the very depths of life’s core values. All in the name of security.

It hampers life. Life which was so easy before is now becoming increasingly difficult. From big things in life to small. Either people are willing to pay the price for establishing and maintaining a sense of security or they are mute witnesses to the apathetic display of mundane security procedures. It gets really silly sometimes.

Just a few years ago, resetting my password was a breeze. I used to send a mail to a nice woman wishing her a good morning with a request to change the password if she wouldn’t mind. I get a reply within ten minutes with the reset password and also letting me know about the weather there. The new password would be humorous and once I enter the application I can resume work by changing the password of my choice. I would sometimes call her to thank or she would call just to ensure that my work is not held up. That way she showed she cared and simultaneously ensured I was the right person.

Now it’s different. I need to raise a request over an intrepidly named application which keeps track of how many times I reset my password. There are multiple pages of rows and columns and they are so cumbersome it wouldn’t allow me to proceed until I exactly filled what it asked for – every time. Then I get a reply not in 10 minutes but almost instantly – auto reply. It thanks me for sending a request and says that I can expect a response within two working days – I can twiddle my thumbs in the office until then. After two days I get the password over two emails encrypted and asking me to fill up strangely shaped characters. And if I do not change the password within a stipulated time the password would commit hara-kiri. If people can blow themselves up so can passwords. It’s so complex, I cannot remember it and even if I could, the passwords are expected to live for 15 days and they would blow themselves up then, if not on day 1. So, I write my password down very dutifully which defeats the very purpose of security! No one can expect me to remember an eight digit password with no letter of the alphabet repeating, with at least one numeric and one non alpha-numeric character (these are the strange characters you find on top of the numbers keys in your key board). I have a strange rule to change the password every fifteen days – over a time I discovered – everyone has the same rule – so much for password security.

This one takes the cake. Yesterday, I took an exam. As I was sitting nervously in the lounge after filling up the security register at the lobby, the security guy passes me by and then back again and while doing so he says, jackets aren’t allowed inside and it has to be kept out. I pack it away and return to my lounge seat. A couple of minutes later, the same security guy passes me by and while returning says watches aren’t allowed inside and I repeat the process. The third time he passes me by, he says pens aren’t allowed inside and off it goes. Now I am exasperated – and sure enough he passes me by the fourth time, I take my fingers to the buttoned shirt and I unilaterally offer to take it off. He said with a stern face that I can take the exam with the shirt on.

And to think that this was just the precursor. This guy who is supposed to check your id looks like a judge who has just passed the death sentence. The admit letter says I need to carry two identity proofs and employer id is not considered as an id proof. Perhaps, I should have carried my death sentence pronouncement with my photograph and signature.

First I submit my eligibility letter and then my primary id – my passport and then my secondary identification with a five year old photograph. He writes down the id numbers and allows me to take the exam.

The sad part is – the names in the eligibility letter, the primary identity and the secondary identity were not identical though they all were mine and genuine and I was the right person. (I would count the spaces in between names as differences). I would have expected him to ask for a clarification but then I cannot give a clarification once the death sentence is passed – can I. I counted myself lucky.

They had processes, they had protocols, and they had checklists. What they did not have was to do the right thing the right way at the right time. That needs common sense.

Common sense could have prevented the person from entering the country who was refused a visa earlier – he couldn’t have piloted the plane into the building. Common sense would have prevented seven bullets entering the head of an innocent man.

That’s the price we need to pay for our own sense of security.