Inanimate but would make you want to talk to her endlessly….

Inanimate but would make you want to talk to her endlessly….

“Come to my place this week at any cost I have “Gauri” at my place”, said Chetaan.

Chetaan has been a friend of mine since senior college. He had invited me to his house, for the same reason which he did a good six years back, but I couldn’t make it then.

Chetaan and his family are descendants of those that stay alongside Mahalaxmi Temple. He has a flower shop there too, which he caters to the numerous devotees that visit the temple.

“I am here to see Chetaan” was all that I had to say at the base of the temple to the temple guard and was let to go without a fuss and with my shoes on. It’s nice to know ‘insiders’ you see. : ) I walked up the steps of the temple, much to the Fanfare of devotional music and colorful ‘Chundris’. What better season to visit the place than that of the Ganesha festival.

I met him at the top and he led me next through his shop to his house. I was taken to the room where the deity ‘Gauri’ was. “Oh my God” was the expression on my face. This was the second time where I felt an inanimate object come to life. The grandeur that she was dressed in was one which only a person that loved her immensely could have dresses her up. The photograph above stands testimony of what I say.

The deity has supposedly been in Chetaan’s family for a long long time, and they have managed to keep her intact, not letting any harm to her. Once a year, the Deity is dressed in the choicest traditional ornaments of the family. Needless to say, these are of pure gold, and other valuable jewels. Various other offerings find their place around her, signifying that the best is offered to her.

‘This supposedly one of the best ‘Gauri’ in the whole of Mumbai’, remarks Chetaan. The continuous flow of visitors in Chetaan’s living room which had the Gauri, convinced me of what he believed. The visitor’s were those who were not even invited like I was, but had come to visit the Temple and dropped in to pray to the Deity.

A personal opinion that I have is that, the ‘Gauri’ here could have been just like any other statue, but here is one which has been transformed in a real person, by the love and respect that the family has towards her.

I was touched, if you were there alongside me then, trust me you would have been too………