There are some childhood memories that you don’t think about every day. But then one small moment brings them back so clearly.

Ganesh festival has many such memories for me. When I was a child, Saturdays during the festival season used to be special. My father would take me around the city for Ganesh Darshan. We would visit different pandals, one after another.

I still remember going around on his cycle and looking at the decorations, the lights, the crowds and, of course, Ganpati Bappa in so many different forms.

My father and mom would walk with me through crowded streets and long queues. At that age, I probably did not understand how much effort parents put into creating these little experiences for their children.

For me, it was simple. Bappa, a cycle ride, time with my parents, and at the end of it ice cream.

That was enough to make me happy.

This morning after so many years something brought those memories back.

I was in my car waiting at a traffic signal. It was a long signal so I happened to look around.

Next to me was a small roofed tempo and inside there was a family of four a husband, wife and their two little daughters. They were taking Ganpati Bappa home. There was nothing grand about the moment. But they looked so happy.

The two little girls were excited. The parents had that quiet happiness on their faces. And Bappa was there with them on the way to becoming a part of their home and their memories.

I kept looking at them for a few seconds. Then I folded my hands, prayed to Bappa and smiled. And somewhere in that moment, I was a child again.

I remembered those Saturdays. My father’s cycle. My parents walking. The crowded pandals. The darshan. And that ice cream at the end.

It made me realise that this is perhaps the most beautiful part of our festivals.

They don’t belong only to big pandals, beautiful decorations or grand celebrations.

Their real beauty is in these small moments.

A father taking his child for darshan on a cycle. A family carrying Bappa home in a tempo.

Children waiting excitedly for celebrations to begin. Parents quietly creating memories that their children may understand only many years later.

Festivals have this wonderful ability to make everyone happy in their own way.

And sometimes, while we are busy growing up, life gives us a small moment at a traffic signal to remind us where some of our happiest memories came from.

“As children, we celebrate festivals. As we grow older, we realise we were also celebrating the people who made them special.”

Ganpati Bappa Morya. 🙏