with Sri Ganesh

And every appearance Of yours Is thus the deepest homage

And celebration Of the Shakti...

- 05-09-09:

Arriving this morning I saw there had been another bad accident on the main road, right at the same spot as last time, about 20 meters south-west of Sri Ganesh (behind him and to his right); this time, a load-carrier has been smashed back to front and is lying abandoned next to the fence… … It seems to me that the celebrations of the Chaturthy day all over the country have this year been even more intensive and elaborate and have drawn even more people together. I had written in my announcement that Lord Ganesha’s figure was present in every hearth and home throughout the country, but I then had misgivings, belatedly wondering whether this might be taken as somewhat fundamentalist, where Muslims, for instance, are concerned. Yet I am quite sure that most Indian Muslim families are fond of Ganesh as well, even though Islam does not accept any representation or any “idol”… And then today there was an article reporting on a very widely attended procession to carry Lord Ganesh on the closing day of his festival, which had to pass through the Muslim quarter of Madurai and was quite welcome there as well. … M. came in to offer a few flowers and sat before Sri Ganesh a while; I have gathered that he is now involved with a youth boarding in Kuillapallayam and he has put up a note this week in the AV News congratulating himself for having successfully celebrated the Chaturthy there. … Meanwhile, the whole world seems to be heading for a great chaos: due to the recent droughts, thousands of farmer families have already had to leave their houses and fields in some areas of the northern states; politicians and businessmen are cheerily plunging downwards in pursuit of fame and profit; the United Nations Chairman is yelling at

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