Blessed

See - I was so eager to take photos of the "Ganeshas" in my area - but alas! it was not to be. Without going into the boring reasons I struck upon a brilliant idea. Okay, brilliant in my mind - you decide whether you think so too! I thought, hey, I am a big fan of the elephant-headed God, so why not take pictures of some from my own collection? Bru-ha-ha-ha! So I did!  
Somehow, every time I go out, if I see a unique form of Ganesha, he comes home with me. So irresistible. I even have Ganesha earrings, a Ganesha locket...Ganesha pottery....Sigh. When Vidur was very little, I packed most of the decorative stuff off in cartons and put them out of reach. They're still all packed up, I realized, mainly because I have to make arrangements to display them properly. So what I did was took pictures of the ones around my house - and decided to present them here. And yes, there's a story about each. Grab your favorite beverage and enjoy! As always, click the photo for the original size.
Here we go!
I got this Ganesha a few years ago from the market. Days before the festival, the are hundreds of shops and roadside vendors selling these clay idols - nicely painted. Vidur would go crazy when we went shopping, and insisted on buying this. And so here He is, in His most traditional form.

This one is precious to me. After Sury and I decided to get married, I wanted to make something, and embroidered this Ganesha. And framed it. And hung it. As Sury fondly likes to say, we've successfully framed and hung Ganesha. (Go ahead, laugh!) This is prominently featured in our living room. Yeah!
Ah, this idol is about 18 inches tall (that's 45 cm) and I got it in 1992. Yes, folks! My friend and I were cruising down the road towards an industrial area when we spotted this chap on the side of the road selling them. We got one each. I remember how much we laughed when we realized he colored the plaster of paris molds with printers' ink! This idol has carefully traveled many cities with me - as I moved around. I love it dearly. When we arrived where we live now, the base chipped and I felt so sad. Then my Mom reminded me that Quickfix can fix everything (except broken hearts). So - I fixed it - and painted the base. Can you make out? Didn't think so! And that little red container you see at the bottom left? It has red "kum-kum"-  (the stuff you see on the center of my forehead) - and which we offer women who visit when they leave. Okay, side-tracked. But that's the story behind this Ganesha. Sometimes I hug Him - because his face looks like a child's. (I played around with Picasa to make this photo look like this)
Next up, is my conch Ganesha. Hey, did you notice this one is made of five conches? Ah, I love this. Back in 1996, when I lived in another city, I used to shop at a friend's store for clothes. She knew I was crazy about collecting Ganesha idols and got me this one for my birthday, back then. Mmmm. It is fairly large and looks soft and cute. And now, my most coveted Ganesha - in his dancing form. This is about ten inches tall and weighs over five kilograms. Yes. Very special indeed. Made of "panchaloka" or five metals. This was gifted to me by my colleagues at work. Every one who visits my house admires it and my Uncle covets it like crazy. I love it. And I always love the expression on the face of the person who picks it up - they never expect it to be so heavy. And God help them if they ever drop it, eh. I got this sculpted Ganesha a few years ago when I went shopping. That's a piece of rock and the Ganesha is etched on it. That means I've shown you my etchings, right? Yes. :-) Ha ha.
Awww, look at this orange Ganesha inside the coconut! That's a real coconut shell, folks. This was gifted to me in 1996 - when I visited a family friend's office during a trip to Delhi. As we chatted, I think he caught me looking at this, sitting on his side table. When I left, he picked it up and gave it to me. Well, what could I do? I said thank you very nicely. Now let me introduce you to an art form that is special to Tanjore, our native place in South India. Besides a lot of fascinating things like heritage monuments, Tanjore painting, music, toys and lots of creative things, Tanjore is famous for this specific art. (Just Google "Tanjore Art" under images and enjoy the results) That silver etching is set in a wooden frame. This one's a Ganesha.  Ah, I should take photos of some of the Tanjore art and make a post out of it, eh?

This is a painting on cloth by yours truly - it hangs in my home "office"  I also made the frame from cable camouflage - you know, the thingy they use to hide the cables and wires and make it look all neat and tidy. At the bottom - left and right are sets of birds we semi-made a few years ago, based on a television craft program. Yeah, I am creative like that. I made the Ganesha below out of strips of cane - the soft sort. Then I mounted it on black cloth. Then knocked an old photo out of its frame, fixed a sheet of thermocol on it, covered it with orange handmade paper and placed my Ganesha in the center. To keep it dust free, I covered it with clear plastic.  I could have taken it down to photograph, but....erm....didn't and hence the glare. The frame is two feet tall and one and a quarter feet wide. As soon as you enter my front door, you can see it on the wall right opposite, twenty feet away. I am thinking of painting that wall a nice red. And oh, bottom right, is Dora the Explorer, courtesy Vidur. Don't ask why. He once made a painting of the north pole with a polar bear. There was a telephone kiosk in one corner. No idea why. But he's thoughtful like that.   And that's it for today! :-) I have several more photos - but I don't want to overdose the post.
I love Unknown Mami for hosting this link up! Let's get over to her place and see what the others are up to. You only need your keyboard!

Here is something I want to share with you:
It has been a nice week for me, all things considered. This morning a close friend of mine phoned and we had a pleasant marathon chat (virtual hug to her if she's reading this).  And there's something I want to ask you, dear friends, because I value your views and input. We were catching up - I always enjoy asking her about her two beautiful children. She was worried about her younger one,who is three-ish and still hasn't begun to speak. He goes to a special school now where there are other children with learning disabilities. My friend is worried about the feedback she received from the school - saying that they want to downgrade his "goals", which is really not fair, because he has progressed as far as comprehension goes - he now understands when they communicate, but won't speak.  In the meantime, a trusted friend who has been running a school for decades, suggested that she move her three-year old there, as she has seen several kids with a similar problem improve and make progress in a normal setting. Her point is - the child will be encouraged to speak while interacting with others and also receive intervention with an experienced speech therapist.
Here's the dilemma. Should my friend take the chance and move her child to this other school? Or continue with the existing school that wants to downgrade her child? She's afraid he may regress.
What do you think? Please let me know in the comments, or email me at vidzword at gmail dot com - I would really appreciate suggestions, information, et cetera. Thanks!
Have a great week ahead! And remember that you are a wonderful person!