Celebrations – My Tape Story

It’s Ganesh Chaturthi today, the birth day of Lord Ganesh and basically …

I don’t know enough about it (but Google does!).

(Oops.)

However.

What I do know FOR SURE is this –

🔸This day always fills me up with excitement each time

🔸It’s an occasion that used to bring my entire family together and I’ve got some incredible memories of this festival

🔸I am aware of the basic rituals – a little prayer that you do, certain dishes you prepare (I’m not sure why you make each), general overview of the days you celebrate (5,7 or 11 days I think) it.

🔸It is a great opportunity to dress up

🔸I miss my brother

P.S. Whatever you’re reading right now is being typed as I get ready

I wouldn’t call myself particularly religious; definitely not like my parents or family. I think I am “religious” about things that work for me and I believe in them. I’ve always been given the freedom to have my own belief system and hence I am fine with everyone else choosing what works for them – whatever helps one feel happy and peaceful from deep within + helps him/her get through the hardships of life. You might have guessed by now that religion is really not one of my favourite topics.

Having said all of the above, here’s how I’m doing it –

I’ve set up my altar, with a beautiful statue of Lord Ganesha resting on coral beads. I haven’t specifically decorated my altar because my alter is rather personal and symbolic in itself. Every little thing on it is there for a reason. All I did was just cleaned it up, added some fresh flowers, lit some candles and rose incense sticks – that’s it.

I’ve invited a couple of really close friends over to my house. We’ll sing along one or two devotional songs (okay okay, I do know the lyrics of some. It happens when your family has been singing it for years you know?) and have a mini dinner, which we’ll probably call for. My dinner is going to look rather different from their’s as I’ve got a SIBO test on the very next day. More on that next time.

Oh, here’s an important bit. We’ve decided to dress up too because HEY!! We don’t get a chance otherwise! Who gets a chance to wear a nath these days anyway?! Nath, by the way, is a Maharashtrian style nose ring and I’ve been dyingggg to wear mine (I don’t get a chance to wear it these days anymore since I don’t perform much). I can’t wait for my friends to show up now!

It took me approximately 2 hours including 4 ice-pack breaks to look like I do here

As prashad, we’re having (my friends) some dark chocolate (instead of these sweet rice dumpling kind of a thing called ‘modak’) and I believe Ganesh ji is going to like my modern twist to his birthday celebration.

How about a ‘modak’ shaped oversized Hershey’s Kisses?

I also plan to FaceTime my family and my close friends later in the evening. Everyone’s all over the world this time so I’m freaking thankful for FaceTime. I’m beyond grateful for a small set of close friends I have today – they’ve done so much for me up till date. Sometimes they willingly become my extra pair of hands, helping me with things I simply have no physical ability to do. Other times, they patiently sit next to me (they get me dark chocolate quite often) while I just lay down in pain. I can’t thank the Universe enough for a bunch of loving people around me.

Let’s see… I think that’s it. That’s really it. That’s my version of a mini Ganesh Chaturthi celebration in my sweet little apartment. We’ve got Ganesh ji + positive vibes + food + friends + a grateful heart + good clothes + technology to keep in touch with the rest of the world – what else can anyone ask for?

By the way, in case you’re wondering,GBM stands for ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya’, which supposedly means ‘Lord Ganesh Bless’. For me, it’s something you happily and enthusiastically yell out a number of times through the course of this festival.

Happy Lord Ganesha’s Birthday everyone! *Yell GBM now*

It doesn’t matter if you’re single or in a relationship, there is always (always) an opportunity to pause, breathe and remind yourself that you are your own first before you can be someone else’s.

If you’re single and haven’t met the love of your life yet, the best part is – you still have enough time to start practicing self-acceptance and self-love, to complete yourself first before trying to complete someone else or having someone else complete you. To become comfortable being alone with yourself first, so you can deeply enjoy the moments of togetherness with someone else. You have all the time in this world to learn how to be gentle and patient with yourself. Practicing self-love gives you an opportunity to celebrate a day of love, every day of the year. Putting yourself first is not selfish; it is necessary – to cultivate a healthy relationship with your own mind and body, and with your loved ones.

If you’re in a relationship, it’s only healthy, if not even more necessary, to find some time with yourself. Whether that’s to sit in peace with yourself , to do things you love or to simply validate yourself for being who you are; regardless of the validation you may receive from someone else. Being there for yourself first allows you the emotional, mental and even the physical capacity to be there for those you love even more. There’s no way one can give out of an empty well. Practicing self -love becomes even more important when you’re in a relationship because as you continue to strengthen the bond between your own mind and body, you encourage others to do the same. As you recognize your own needs, you recognize and respect the needs of others. This way, your relationship grows into a beautiful partnership, and you each become an integral part of it. Celebrating a relationship that has its foundation in place becomes a daily practice, not just a once -in- a -year event.

Choose to celebrate love ( of all kinds) every, single (or not) day of your life. Because love is within you, not next to you or no where to nowhere to be found.

#chooselove #practicelove #celebratelove #loveoflkinds #selflove

@mdalvi15

Tag: Celebrations

GBM My Style

February 14, 2016