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Ganesh Chaturthi EXCLUSIVE! Ruslaan Mumtaz: I Am Not Very Religious But I Feel Connected To Bappa
'Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangal Murti Morya.' This devotional chant is just enough to make you feel the festive spirit in the air. It's time to welcome the Elephant God, Lord Ganesha who inspires to manifest the powers within us. Like last year, this time too, the celebration across the country might be low-key owing to the current pandemic scenario, but that's definitely not going to dampened the fervour.
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, Filmibeat got in touch with actor Ruslaan Mumtaz for a quick chat in which the latter spoke about his bond with Lord Ganesha, his cherished memories about the festival, his wish to the Elephant God this year and much more.
Q. How would you explain your connection with Lord Ganesha?
A. So my mom being a Maharashtrian, I have totally grown up with Ganesha. He is a part of my life because he is the only God that we have been worshiping. There are no other idols in our house except for Ganpati Bappa. For the past 20 years, we have been celebrating Ganpati in our building which my mom was completely involved in. Slowly, everybody else from the family got involved in it. We started going for all the aartis. We came to know about Bappa and got more connected to him. Even today, I might not be somebody who is very religious but I feel very connected to Bappa. He is a God that really brings peace and now, when my son who is just one year looks at the idol of Bappa, he also feels the connection. He too, starts clapping his hands because that's how my mother does the aarti and makes him clap. That's what I have noticed.
Q. What is that one thing that you enjoy the most about this festival and why?
A. Because we have a Ganpati ceremony in our building itself, for a change we get to meet everybody and spend time with them during the aarti. On the last day before the visarjan, all the residents dine together. So, all these things are not there through the year. Most of the time, we don't get to meet or talk to our neighbours. We just wave 'hi' and 'bye' to them. But because of the Ganpati festival, we get to meet everybody and interact with them and see how they are doing. That's something special about this festival.
Q. What's your favourite memory related to the festival?
A. Nowadays it's become like a fashion to have Ganpati at your home. Slowly and steadily as the years pass, you now get invites just as forwarded messages. It's like how you get messages for Diwali like 'Happy Diwali'. Now I obviously receive messages like that just with the address that we have Ganpati at our house for one and a half day or five days. No call, nothing. That's because everybody has it now and they have to invite everybody so they can't make personal calls. So, I end up not going to anybody's house.
But there are a few close friends of mine, maybe two of them whose houses I have been going to for the last ten years. So, they are the only ones who I visit as a ritual because I am that close to them. Also, they have been hosting Ganpati celebration at their place for over ten years and I have been involved in that. The special memories are only those when you go to these friends' houses and every year there's something different. The idols are more beautiful and different. Sometimes it's eco-friendly and how over the years, people's mindsets have changed. So, everything about the festival is a memory. There's something from every year's festival that I remember and cherish.
Q. Lord Ganesha is also known as Vighnaharta (remover of obstacles). What would be your wish to the God this year?
A. There are so many people after this pandemic who are struggling with their day-to-day living. They are worried about their food, safety and health. My wish to God would be to help them. I am been fortunate enough to not realize that this pandemic is coming, going or is over because I have been safe, well fed and have been happy. But there are people out there who have lost their loved ones. So, I pray that God helps them out and makes them forget their pain, help them with jobs, money and do something for all these people. I hope that all the temples and anybody who can donate, this is the good time to help people who need you. I know that a lot of people have already helped a lot during the pandemic. But from God, I would wish that we get rid from Coronavirus. That's the biggest wish.
Q. Finally, how do you plan to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi this year?
A. Last year because of the lockdown, nobody visited anybody's house. We didn't have Ganpati celebration even in our building. But this year, things seem to be a little normal. Obviously, I am scared but I am going to visit maybe two houses. That really narrows down the chances of interacting with more people. Also, we will be celebrating Ganpati in our building this year. Maybe, we will go for less aartis. But I want my son to be involved in all these things so that he grows up knowing about Ganesh Chaturthi, Ganpati Bappa, visarjan, aarti and everything. So, we will be involved but maybe less than what we would like to be.
Filmibeat wishes all its readers a very happy Ganesh Chaturthi!
