Pashmina Roshan: At our place, we don’t follow the tradition of ganpati visarjan

Bappa is here and watching over us. That’s the feeling that has left Pashmina Roshan overwhelmed during the Ganesh Utsav. Everyone has their own ways and reasons to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, and for Pashmina, this is her favourite time of the year, as she likes to pause and thank Ganpati for everything in her life.

“Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival we’ve always celebrated. My family has been following the tradition since long before I was born. We are fierce believers in Lord Ganesha, and always in gratitude of the blessings and this beautiful life he’s bestowed upon us,” Pashmina tells us.

However, like most of the people who welcome Ganesha on day one of the festival and perform immersion on days they want to, Pashmina says her family celebrations are somewhat different that the usual.

“We don’t follow the tradition of visarjan. Our Gapnatiji is always home, in the mandir. On his birthday, we bring him out into the hall, throw him a huge party, celebrate, and after that, unhe phir se mandir mein sthapit kiya jaata hai,” she continues, “And we keep things very traditional. My favourite part is not leaving Ganpatiji alone; someone always has to be there (with him). This becomes even more special at night when we have to sleep in the same room as Ganpatiji, give him milk, and just sit with him by the diya light in peace.”

Talking about the prep for the festival, the 27-year-old shares that it all starts weeks in advance. “Everybody gets involved, and since we’ve been celebrating Ganpati for years, we pretty much have the routine written down. Everyone has their designated roles, but we do report to a boss: my mother (laughs). She’s in charge of overlooking everything, and I have learned it all from her,” shares Pashmina, adding, “While my mum designs the clothing, the mandap, and the jewellery for Ganpati ji. I’m in charge of the flowers. We wake up at 4am and go get our blooms from Siddhivinayak temple and Dadar market, and after weaving some into ladis, we start decorating our home.This is where I let my creativity flow making floral rangolis in different areas of the house.”

Opening up about her special connection with the festival, Pashmina says though she is full of gratitude throughout the year, it gets even amplified during the festival. “And it’s not just one thing; it’s everything. Everything is illuminated. And just like life, it’s always the little things—the shared laughs, the glimmer in everyone’s eyes — that make you go, ‘Ah, Bappa is here; he’s watching over us’. That means a lot,” she gushes