To beautify something is a honest and pleasing experience. Last year the opportunity of decorating a Ganpati pandal (Let Wiki bring light to the unknown, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandal, ) fell in the hands of a dear friend of mine. I(owing to my ever helpful nature) agreed to assist him on the assignment. After brainstorming for ideas for a day or so, we decided to go for the macro landscape — Our Universe. It took some time to get the adrenaline kick registered, then we were ready for the real deal.
After shopping a day for colors,brushes,tent size canvases,etc we started working. I remember the mandal (the group organizing the Ganpati festival) members gazing at us inquisitively for any signs of assistance, which we may need. From serving water to adjusting the fan(according to our whims), they did everything. Its good to see desperation in the eyes of people, when it comes to serving God(they think it may serve him). The simple,innocent efforts they put in, mostly to stay in God's good books or just to derive pleasure and quench their "spiritual" hunger, which eventually may lead to clean and honest mind.
Religious festivals are meant for uniting with a common reason. B.G. Tilak was a genius and visionary who imbibed this idea into common minds during pre-independence days. It's great to see people from all castes,creeds,religions getting churned together to achieve a spiritually pleasing experience. The remarkable feature here is that all types of people get automatically humble when it comes to God. This amalgamation has resulted into cultural diversity and makes India what it is today!
We went by from coloring the huge canvas, converting plastic balls to planets etc. The process was gruesome and we were sleep deprived for 2 days. But sleep never dived in and we were honestly enjoying the work.
From a large empty canvas to a color occupied one is what makes this beautification process important. The amazement and delight in the eyes of the devotees, is what makes you feel satisfied after the process. It's not only about the level of talent involved or the speciality, but the effort and your thoughts behind it which matter the most. I enjoyed each moment because the idol was to be placed at the very heart of the UNIVERSE we designed. Now we know how GOD would have felt in our UNIVERSE....
(Will upload the pictures later).....
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