Ganesha, screen stars and nostalgia...
Sameer DharmadhikariRaincoat' actor and model Sameer Dharmadhikari is a stauch devotee of Lord Ganesha. Talking about what the Utsav means to him, he said, "I love Ganesh Chaturthi because I love having guests at home. Nowadays, we keep so busy that we hardly find time to spend with our friends and family. So on this auspicious day, friends and relatives come home and we celebrate this festival together."
Dharmadhikar celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi in a unique way. "We make Ganesha's idol at home every year. We offer our prayers to the new Ganesh and also previous years Ganesh. After one and a half days, we do the visarjan of the previous years's Ganesh and retain the new idol," the actor said. Sharing memories of his childhood, Sameer said, "As a kid, I loved singing Ganesh Aarti loudly. We used to have a pooja in our society with dholak players beating the dholaks in harmony. I loved accompanying them as a singer. It was all about a gala get-together." But the actor does have an important message to convey. He said, "Please do not buy Ganesha idols made of POP and other non-eco friendly materials. It is certainly not a good idea to pollute the environment. And secondly, even the Lord wouldn't appreciate the fact that we are making a mess of the environment. It would be nice if you could make idols of clay. One can find God even in a stone. So it is not necessary to splurge on big idols that may harm nature."
(18.9.12).
Edited by Ms.S.K. - 11 years ago
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