Ganesha - Whispered to Me.
The Ganesha I Brought
8/27/20252 min read
Ganesh Chaturthi — a day that arrives wrapped in marigold petals, the slow burn of incense, and the hum of family voices drifting through the house. For most, it’s a morning of colour and celebration. For me, it began with the quiet click of a lock.
I had done my duty — the flowers, the sweets, the clay idol of Ganesha whose eyes seemed to hold both mischief and wisdom. Every item found its place on the festival cloth. But as morning crept in, so did the weight of conversations I wasn’t ready for. So, I excused myself, told my parents I wasn’t feeling well, and slipped into the stillness of my room.
Inside, I let the stillness press against me. Sleep has never been my ally. It hovers like an enemy — always out of reach, always mocking. So, I reached for the FM radio instead, letting random voices fill the silence. Most of it blurred past me, until one story cut through.
The jockey spoke of a couple she met at an airport — together for fifty‑one years. The obvious question had been asked: How?
The old man’s reply was simple, almost too simple:
“Out of all the good things I notice about her, I make a note of ten. Every time we fight or disagree, I read that note. I always end up resonating with at least two of them — and that’s enough to stay.”
When the woman was asked, she smiled with the softness of someone who already knows the ending and said the idea had been hers all along. They laughed together — a laugh that felt like an old quilt, worn yet warm, stitched from a thousand small understandings.
I don’t know why that moment stuck. Maybe it was the way their words carried no grand philosophy, no lecture — only a simple, lived truth. Maybe it was because Ganesha, sitting there in my room, seemed to tilt His head as if to say, You should try this.
So, I did.
I wrote my own ten. Ten reasons. Ten anchors in a restless tide.
She loves me.
She cares for me, even in her worst moments.
When I fail her expectations, she teaches me instead of turning away.
She stays, even when I am impossible.
She surprises me with small sparks of love.
She accepts less than she deserves, though her hopes are high.
She thinks in “we” while I often think in “me.”
She stands by my side, even knowing my flaws.
She loves to travel — to move, to discover, to live.
She chooses her meals like one chooses memories.
The pen felt heavier after that list, as though it had been dipped in something more than ink.
I don’t know if the couple from the airport would approve of my list. I don’t know if Ganesha smiled when I wrote it. But I know this: festivals aren’t only about the noise outside. Sometimes they’re about the quiet revelations inside — the ones that arrive when you stop running from yourself. Sometimes, the loudest blessings come in the quietest rooms.
LISTEN
I told my heart, "Go and bring happiness to me." The innocent heart brought me sorrow—well then, let me accept sorrow.
Where does the poor heart know what pain is, what emptiness is? Compared to all the joy in the world, my sorrow is more comforting.
I never found joy in celebrations; I found pleasure only in sorrow.
Sometimes there is the light of love, sometimes the darkness of death. Tell me, what disguise should I wear? Should I become a saint or a thief?
This heart has many faces. Who knows which one is truly mine?
There were thousands of miles I set out to travel, but the paths kept moving forward, and I was left behind.
I walked only a few steps and then began circling around your thoughts.
I told my heart, "Go and bring happiness to me." The innocent heart brought me sorrow—well then, let me accept sorrow.
I have no grouse against a life without you
But a life without you is hardly a life
Wish we could tread our journey with your steps
Pick our destinations afresh and walk someplace else, far far away
When you walk along with me
There’s no dearth of places to be
And though I have no grouse against a life without you…
All I wish to do is seek refuge in your embrace
And keep crying; keep crying
Aren’t those tears too that I detect in the moistness of your eyes –
A life without your is hardly any life
If you say so the moon will not set tonight
Say it – Stop this night
It’s just the matter of the night, there isn't much left in life without you
I have no grouse against a life without you
But a life without you is hardly any life
You alone… Without you, how could I live? Come to me, don’t let me ache like this.
My life, come and breathe within me. Like the moon, descend onto the ground of my heart.
If you love me, come and meet me — or else, take me from this earth entirely.
These breaths are restless, they whisper that wherever you walk, I should lay my eyes like a path beneath your feet.
I would give up my life from the heights of mountains if you did not come.
My hope, my world, my life and my death — I have placed them all in your hands.
I have broken every bond for your sake. Call me a hundred times, and a hundred times I will come.
Even tears taste sweet when they fall for you.
O naïve bird,
come back home..
come back home..
why do you wander country-country (in such bad shape)
why is your condition so bad, all tired-lost
why do you wander this country to that
you (have become) a nomad of nights..
a hundred pains are spread on the body,
clothes of all compassion are dirty..
(guess that means, all the sources of compassion are not there for you right now)
however much you cut the winds with your wings,
you'll not be able to fend yourself from yourself..
break the skies and burn the worlds,
but you can't hide yourself,
whatever path you take,
you are homeless (out there)
you will come to your home only..
O crow, I have so much of request to you, eat (my body's) flesh,
but do not eat my eyes, don't eat my eyes as I have a wish to see my lover..
If you are mine, I’m surprised that I never asked for anything
If you are mine, Why does it feel like I’ve gotten everything
For you are mine
I don’t ask for anything from this world
And if you’re not
I don’t want to live in this world
And in my visions
There’s a place where you and I are together now
And no one else is there
But you and I, oh
And you’ll come, you’ll come
Are our paths intertwined like this?
And if you’d cross paths with me
I’ll fall madly in love with you
And you’ll come, you’ll come
Are our paths intertwined like this?
And even if you don’t cross the paths with me
I’ll still want you the same
For you are mine
I don’t ask for anything from this world
You ask
What I see in you
When there’s a lot of things to see around me today
You don’t know
Yourself, no idea why
See yourself from my eyes please
Please see, please see
Beneath the hair, how beneath the hair
Your lovely smile hides beneath the hair
And your eyes go down and then up
So what do I do? I’ve lost already
Your lips, your lips
By which you give me lovely names
And about your heart, and about your heart
What can be said? How wonderful they are!
And yes, look here
How two hearts are walking down the aisle
But is it a clear sky
Or a rainy day again?
Even if your day is rainy
I’d still want to be with you, do you know that?
I’d not ask for anything else for
You’re mine
Stranger, you too sometimes call out from somewhere
I’m living here in pieces
You are also living in fragments
Stranger, call out to me from somewhere
Day after day, the silky breeze whispers
“Tell me” Where is that pure, innocent bloom?
Where is that light?
Where is that life?
I remain incomplete, and so do you
Wanderer, wanderer, foreigner Wanderer, wanderer, foreigner
You’re not here, yet your smiles linger
Your face is nowhere to be seen
But your footsteps still echo
Where are you, where have you gone?
Where is your trace?
Where is my world?
I remain incomplete, and so do you
Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on
Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on
Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more, you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on
Love can touch us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never let go 'til we're gone
Love was when I loved you
One true time I'd hold to
In my life, we'll always go on
Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on (why does the heart go on?)
Once more, you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on
You're here, there's nothing I fear
And I know that my heart will go on
We'll stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart and
My heart will go on and on