Celebrations are in the air as people celebrate Hartalika i.e. Parvati Puja and Ganesh Chaturthi today It is a big festival. Lord Ganesh, the obedient son of Lord Shiv and Goddess Parvati. He is also fondly called 'Vighnaharta'-one who removes obstacles from the path.
The entire city has adorned a festive look today with processions, drum beating, music and chanting of mantras. It is the same with other festivals. I marvel at the people of Indore for their religious fervour and zeal. In the past 10 years, there has hardly been a day when I have not seen women decked up and going to temples with puja thalis!
Financial crunch and money restraint is somehow forgotten at such times! Call it God's blessings if you will! But this year things are a bit difficult. We are in a grip of drought. There is water scarcity and the prices of everything has gone up.
I do not wish to spoil the mood of the people, but we all need to think about TOMORROW. After all, it is the second consecutive year when we have received less rains. Festivals are important. They make us upbeat. But at the moment we need to restrain ourselves and save water and grain for the difficult days ahead. The state government should work on this and make people understand the situation.
