Ganapati Bappa Moriya!!

               GANAPATI  BAPPA  MORIYA!!!!

Even though Ganesh Chaturti is on Sep 9, our preparations were on full swing for about a week before the “Pratisthapana”.  We are ready with our invitation cards and donation books.

       

            We split ourselves into organizers and batches. We invited all our teachers and staff in our hospital to participate in our event. 

Day 1 {9^th September, 2013}

After days of endless waiting and speculation, finally the day of shukla chaturti (fourth day of the waxing moon period) in the month of Bhaadrapada dawned.

            We made a beautiful Mandap with a raised platform in it in the Netaji Grounds. We decorated the Mandap with flowers and leaves. We bought a seven feet eco-friendly standing ganesh idol made of clay. The idol had Lord Shiva at the top. He had four hands in whick he carried a rope {to carry devotees to the truth}, an axe {to cut devotees attatchments}, a laddoo {to reward devotees for spiritual activity} and fourth hand’s palm is extended to bless people.  There was a tiny mouse at his left feet.

We had our batch’s inaugural pooja. Ganesh Utsav is a cultural extravaganza in the college where music, mantras, revelry and devotion all blend together. 

Day 2

           

Today we had pooja of gynecology department and 2k11 batch. . We packed Prasad for the pooja and distributed it to the various departments. With the advent of Ganesh Chaturti pomp and splendor would filled the air with a positive energy that is unbeatable.   

Day 3

Today we had pooja of our first year departments i.e. Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology.

We planned a blood donation camp. We thought it as a simple and easy way to impact the lives of others in a beneficial way. The event was organized under the guidance of our Blood Bank {NACO} and our General Medicine Post Graduates. . The camp began at around 11.00 am when various students had come forward to donate blood.  Our super indent Dr. Chandra Shekar {dept. of Plastic Surgery} started the event by donating his blood.

We collected about 77 units of blood that day. It was a grand success in the history of Gandhi Medical College. Our doctors were proud to receive such a good and vibrant crowd of young students who were so keen on donating the little they could.  Our teachers gave excellent compliments and encouragement. The student support was marvelous and way more than expected.  We gave apples and beverages to replenish the energy of the donors. The Blood Donation Camp winded up at 3 pm with cheerful doctors and nurses who were very proud of the crowd they had received.

This experience has helped me to realize the real secret of being rich: compassion towards humanity! My heart full thanks to all for making our Blood Donation Camp so memorable.

Day 4

Today we had pooja of our third year {ENT, OPTHAL and SPM} and fourth year departments {MEDICINE, SURGERY AND PEDIATRICS}.

            We planned to spend our day with orphans. We invited children from FRIENDS FOUNDATION, Narapally; Uppal.  At 2 pm, 25 children headed by their sir Ranjith came to our Ganesh Mandap.

            We had “ANNADANNAM” and we fed the children. We enjoyed talking to the children and spending time with them. Everyone was very open and friendly. Children were so sweet and affectionate.  We enhanced our communication with them through activities like drawing, singing, dancing and playing musical chairs so on.

          

            Hours rolled away as minutes when we are with them. We donated them Baskets, Tiffin Boxes, Water Bottles, Note Books, Pencils and Stationeries which they needed on behalf of our batch and our Utsav Committee.  We had a cute photo session with the children. They left at around 6.30 pm.

            I felt grateful for the experience and it has exposed to me many aspects of my character. It is certainly an experience that we always remember.

            At 7 pm we had bhajan organized by ISKCON temple, Hyderabad.  We chanted the “Hare Krishna Mantra” along with the ISKCON volunteers. A volunteer explained us that the Mantra can give peace, happiness, God realization, freedom from repeated birth and death and total self-fulfillment.

Day 5

            We all dressed in white today.  We had pooja of Gastroenterology dept.

At 11 am, we all gathered at Mandap for Ganapati Homam. We participated in the homam as batches. The homam ended doing poornahuthi. We were blessed with Lord Ganesha’s image in the fire of homam. It was a supernatural experience.

At 3 pm we had a final pooja and aarti of Ganesh. Then we started preparations for Ganesh visarjan.

At 6 pm, we had dahi handi ceremony {utti}.  A clay pot which had a coconut was positioned at a convenient height prior to the event.  People stood on top of one another attempting to break the pot by hitting with a blunt stick.  Their efforts were thwarted by splashing water on them by those gathered around.  There was a great competition between our medicos and it filled amusing enthusiasm as they go from one handi to another.

We had a crazy joyful battle with gulal.  The colors, the noise, the music, the beats of drums, the dances and the smiles filled the college surroundings. Our Ganesh’s nimarjan procession started. We bid farewell to our BAPPA with heavy hearts and with reassurance that he would come back soon in the next year.

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We enjoyed the group support and have benefited from sharing ideas and working them into activities. Ganesh Chaturti lifted our spirits and helped in binding stronger relationships among us.