When I was at home in India, Vinayaka Chavithi was always an ocassion spent with family. I remember waking up to the wonderful smell of home-made (mom-made) prasadam and other specials, ofcourse after some coercion that its getting late for puja. It felt serene, eventhough it was just another day. There was a certain mood to the day.
My mom would be in "madi", so we (my bro and I) were not supposed to touch her until we had a 'head-bath' and were wearing new clothes. My brother and I would then decorate the "paalavelli" with kumkam, turmeric and fruits. The entire house smells great - karpooram, agarbatthi, fruits, flowers, patthri etc. It is just mesmerizing.
Dad would always lead the puja while mom is finishing up "maha naivedyam". I remember that the whole process would take about 3-4 hours, especially because we both had a million questions every year - What does that mean ? What is the story behind it ?... and sometimes just recollecting an answer we remembered from last year. It was great fun !
It is not the same, thousands of miles away from "home" where everyone has a tilak on their forehead, where everyone is wishing each other "Happy Vinayaka Chavithi", where you are counting the number of idols you have visited, where you are stuffed with the prasadam from every visit, where its a holiday even if its on a wednesday, where you get to shout "ganpati bappa morya" in real world and not on facebook, where you eat your favorite food (amma chethi vanta), where your parents bless you with their hands on your head, where you are happy to be home and your parents are happy that you are at home. It is just not the same, thousands of miles away...
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