There are always some days during Ganpati where it doesn't just rain, but it pours. Sunday was one such day. It had been raining continuously since morning, but nothing could deter Anil Kapoor, his wife Sunita and his older daughter Sonam from making it to the Lalbaug Cha Raja ki aarti as a part of the Times Utsav Moorti Sanman Contest. The crowds were going ballistic seeing not just Ganpati, but two of their favourite stars right in front of them.The Lalbaug ki galli is by itself narrow and was obviously, full of muddy water due to the rains, but both Sonam and Anil didn't stop saying Ganpati Bappa Morya, smiling and waving all the way through, to their fans.While Sonam looked beautiful as always, Anil came dressed in a saffron safa, looking extremely handsome. He could easily have passed off as a groom on his way to getting married with Sunita. The aarti was divine and the experience, magical.

Talking to us, Sonam said, “We started doing Ganpati in our house 20 years ago. I grew up listening to many Ganpati stories from my nani and my mom. My mom brings all these religious things into our lives. My dad only follows. For me, Ganpati is a time for the family to come together and celebrate. Two years back during Ganpati, I remember I was shooting and missed being at home, as that was the only year that I have missed Ganpati at home. We keep Ganpati for one-and-a-half days at home and always have live singers singing the aarti and it makes me extremely philosophical as I am quite religious. It's a great way of reminding myself that I need to be thankful for so much. As a kid, our house manager Pratima didi would take my sister Rhea and me to all the Ganpatis.There is a park in Juhu, from where you can see all the Ganpatis go for their visarjan. We would just stand there, watching all these big big Ganpatis go and that was so fascinating.“