Devotees offer 'virtual' prayers to Ganesha

Simple technology like web-cam connect families

PTI | September 22, 2010



Pune-based Vipula Vernekar never thought that she would make it for Ganesh Chaturthi at her maternal home at Anjuna in Goa, this time around.

But she did, without stepping out of her home. Thanks to e-technology.

Vipula's mother Shubha Nagvenkar had both her daughters-- married in Pune and America-- participating in the 'Aarti'.

While the main 'Aarti' was performed at their ancestral home in Anjuna, the families of both her daughter joined her through webcam adding to the prayer chorus.

"I could not imagine that such thing was possible atleast in my life. I could not believe that my daughters from America and Pune joined me for Aarti," Shubha, 75-year-old mother of five, told PTI from her home at Anjuna.

"We had heard on radio during my younger days that Americans had a phone with which you can see the face of a person who speaks to you on the other line. Years down the line, its happening to us in Goa. Its really nice," she said.

Vipula, who is a housewife said she wanted to visit her maternal home for Ganesh Chaturthi this year.

"I could not make it physically due to other pre-occupations but I am happy that I was the part of celebration and could see it through webcam," she said.

On the other hand, Offering prayers to Ganesha at her maternal home would have meant traversing 'seven seas' for Shubha's eldest daughter, Madhavi Lotlikar.

But it was the webcam technology again to her rescue, when she joined her family back in Goa 'virtually' for aarti from her home in New York.

"Everything is getting digitalized. This is devotion digitalized," commented Madhavi.

The ten-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival began in Goa on September 11. The festival is state's biggest celebration with the elephant-headed God being worshipped in all Hindu households.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Mofussils: Musings from the Margins

Provincials: Postcards from the Peripheries By Sumana Roy Aleph Book Company, 320 pages, Rs 899 Sumana Roy’s latest work, like its p

How to promote local participation in knowledge sharing

Knowledge is a powerful weapon to help people and improve their lives. Knowledge provides the tools to understand society, solve problems, and empower people to overcome challenges and experience personal growth. Limited sources were available to attain information on the events in and arou

‘The Civil Servant and Super Cop: Modesty, Security and the State in Punjab’

Punjabi Centuries: Tracing Histories of Punjab Edited by Anshu Malhotra Orient BlackSwan, 404 pages, Rs. 2,150

What really happened in ‘The Scam That Shook a Nation’?

The Scam That Shook a Nation By Prakash Patra and Rasheed Kidwai HarperCollins, 276 pages, Rs 399 The 1970s were a

Report of India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure released

The final ‘Report of India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure’ by ‘India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Transformation, Financial Inclusion and Development’ was released in New Delhi on Monday. The Task Force was led by the

How the Great War of Mahabharata was actually a world war

Mahabharata: A World War By Gaurang Damani Sanganak Prakashan, 317 pages, Rs 300 Gaurang Damani, a Mumbai-based el

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter