It is the festive Season, and hidden in it are interesting metaphors about relationships. Varied are these relations. At times, they celebrate the symbiosis between man and animals, between man and nature. Sometimes, however, a sweet relationship emerges, as it does right now.
Today is the arrival of the Gauri, and mythically Ganesha is her son. The belief system is that Gauri comes to our home, and that is her maternal home. I find this exhilarating. As the man of the household, that is, Papa is her father, and Aai is her mother, I happen to be her sister, and by definition the aunt of Lord Ganesha. Now that Raju is her father, I continue to enjoy a very near and dear relationship with her and her son, Lord Ganesha.
I find such anthropomorphism absolutely adorable. Such a symbiotic relationship between the human and the divine makes the humdrum life truly heavenly and humane, thereby making human amelioration a definite, rather than a distant, possibility. Imagine being the sister of a goddess and the aunt of Lord Ganesha. However brief, just three days, might be the togetherness, it is sure an enrichment. No wonder, it brings out a better version of the self.
On a deeper socio-cultural level, given the socio-economic framework rooted in agriculture, such a metaphor signifies a strong bond born of gratitude to the abundance of the bounty of nature in its post high monsoon period, a point we need to remind ourselves repeatedly in the current environmentally fragile days. The Gauri is from the riverbed and the Lord is immersed there, too, reminding us of our earthbound existence. Thus is generated a sense of fealty to nature and a realisation of our temporary stay here, thereby stressing the need to make it as meaningful and worthy as possible.
Traditions and rituals, if understood subtly like an interesting text, create their own distinct meaning making, and their own unique metaphors indeed!
Pratima@ Visiting divinity as relatives!
Delightful is the ambi(val)ence!!
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