I have concluded the mission of performing the Lord Ganesha Pooja, assisted by MP3 soundtrack, Kids and Wifey, and our chief maid at home. Radhika served family delicacies (which are specially made for this event) post the rituals. Then Aniketh and I took a long drive around the city to meet my brothers and sisters, and got pampered at their homes with their version of delicacies, good humor, and a chai. Few selfies in today’s express Holiday blog, as I conclude the evening with “Everest” movie (review is at the end of this blog)

Some excerpts from my blog last year (click for more info)

I have learned deeper meaning of this celebration only in the last decade, as part of my visits to spiritual discourses and more. What exactly does the immersion of Lord Ganesha idols symbolizes?   If you ask this question, 7 of 10 folks in neighborhood may get it wrong.

Let me simply reproduce what’s mentioned in Arun Raghuwanshi’s blog here. Every year clay statues of Lord Ganesha are immersed into the water bodies or in sea. Gradually the clay dissolves into water. Ganesh’s image disappears. This ritual is designed by our ancestors to draw attention to the ‘ephemeral nature of life and worldly things’. Showing that nothing in this mortal world lasts forever. It celebrates the fact of life of Creation (Idol construction), Perpetuation (9 to 21 days celebrations) and finally Immersion (Destruction) in water bodies, with fun and fair, as celebration pointing to the fact and showing that death is imperative / essential for creation of new. That’s why people say – Ganapati bappa moriya, agle varas too jaldee Aa!

Why idol worship at all? Can’t we do away with out the idol worship with simple knowledge and enlightenment? It is not possible for many, to comprehend the concept for praying something, which is formless. They need a ‘form’ to pray to, to seek blessings, to seek solace, to cry for help, and more. This is the major reason for widely prevalent idol worship across the country.

Ganesh idol made by Divya using Playdough.  Celebrations @ Divya’s place in NC, Charlotte.

Video sent by Divya (Charlotte, NC)

Everest Movie Review:

EVEREST movie is quite gripping. Though I already know the story well, and knew the ending in advance, movie kept me interested till the end. Beck Wethers who was the last one to survive was from Dallas. I had moved to Dallas in 1995, and saw him featured LIVE on local TV channels in 1996. I had also seen another movie based on same events, which is also based on novel INTO THE THIN AIR.   Himalayan footage is really beautiful and is out of the world.   It is a luxury to watch such a movie on a big screen, and NOT go through the pain of harsh weather condition. Those folks scaled to the height where normally 747 Airplane cruises at that level and our human body is not designed to survive. I liked the question where Rob asks everyone, “Why the hell they want to scale the Everest risking their life”, and answers were quite interesting. “Because, I can”, “ I feel I am connected to myself here”, “I already scaled other big ones, so I want to get this done”. Personally, I am hoping to scale KILIMANJARO (in Africa) or MACHU PICHU (in Peru) next year, and get fit this year, before turning too old to get it done.   The closest I ever go to Everest is via Buddha Airlines when I travelled to Nepal. I have blogged the story @ https://saichintala.com/2014/01/06/the-great-journey-for-salvation/ and shot a video awesome experience of viewing Everest from the Buddha Airlines flight @ https://vimeo.com/83653164