Harshada Rege (DNA; September 13, 2018)

The next five days will be full of festivities for Tusshar and his family as they play host to Lord Ganesha. Like every year, friends as well as near and dear ones will drop in to their residence to seek the Elephant God’s blessings. The Golmaal actor took out time amidst preparations to talk about it and his two-year-old son, Laksshya, participating in the celebrations.

WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE
My earliest memories are of the festival being celebrated at my old house. Lord Ganesha has been coming to our home for over 40 years. Now, I start the puja every day and the family joins in. In fact this year, I was supposed to be out of town, but I cancelled my plans when I realised that Ganesh Utsav begins today. A lot of people come over to seek blessings.

FOLLOWING IN HIS DAD’S FOOTSTEPS
I started doing the puja from 2016 when my father told me that I needed to carry on the tradition. We do have a pandit who comes and guides me through it, but now, I know the rituals, too. As I’m a morning person, I start the aarti early. I schedule my meetings when I don’t need to be at home. Last year, I had an outdoor shoot, so I was here only for the first two days and my parents had to take over. But if I am in town, I work it out one way or the other.

GOING ECO-FRIENDLY
We have continued to follow the same traditions. The only change is that we’ve stopped opting for super-size idols. If we hadn’t, then we’d probably have to get one that’s taller than the idol at Lalbaug (laughs). Also, for many years now, we have been bringing an eco-friendly statue, which is made of mud and dissolves in water immediately. After my son, Laksshya’s birth, we now house it in the lawn. When he was a baby, he used to sleep in the room where we had the Ganesha figurine earlier. This arrangement is easier as people can come and take darshan whenever they want.

THE CONSTANT TRADITION
One of the traditions that we have been following is hosting a lunch on the immersion day. We always invite close friends, cousins and people working in our office.

CELEBRATING WITH LAKSSHYA
Last year, Laksshya was just one so he knew that we have an idol at home. He would fold his hands to pray, but he didn’t understand that there was a new member in the house for a few days. This year, he is slightly older and has become social, so I’m sure he will enjoy meeting the guests.

BACK IN TIME
Every year, my father visits the chawl (in Girgaum) where he spent his childhood to participate in the Ganpati celebrations. I’m unable to make it due to my commitments at home.