Just before winter Ganeshji arrived
He, the beginningless God,
Who had presided over every beginning
He, who had risen from the mud-peelings
Of the magnificent Mother
Half-human, half-elephant
Laughed at the annoying asymmetry
Of the half-formed, demented world
Walked through the primeval chaos
Unhindered and Shiva-inspired.
The Mother was maternally afraid for Him
While Father Shiva danced destruction
Ganapati bapa morya! The crowd yelled
Clay-God painted in kitschy acrylic colors
Rode the undulating waves of the Borivli crowds
The Moon-God laughed at His bulging belly
While brother Kartikeya circumambulated
The Pune Brahmins chanted sonorous slokas
And our national pride was duly restored
Amidst cacophonous Hindi film music.
