Pankaj Tripathi: Ganesh Chaturthi mera karm bhoomi ka tyohaar hai FilmyMeet

Having grown up in Bihar, actor Pankaj Tripathi tells us he did not celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in a big way until he moved to Mumbai. “In Bihar, Ganesh Chaturthi isn’t celebrated the way it is in Maharashtra. My mum would fast, we would perform puja aarti and that was that. My memories of the festival are from the past 10 years,” the actor shares, adding, “When my daughter was little, she used to cry on the day of visarjan because Bappa was going away. Judd gaya hoon iss utsav se. Ek tarah se yeh mera karm bhoomi ka tyohaar hai. It was my karm bhoomi Mumbai that brought me to Ganpati Bappa.”

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While he hasn’t been able to celebrate the entirety of Ganesh Chaturthi with his family in the past, the 47-year-old is staying home for all seven days of the festival, which began on September 7, this year: “Until the year before last, I would have professional commitments and could only partake in the festivities on the days of sthapana and visarjan. [This year] script readings and everything else is happening at home.”

What do Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations look like in the Tripathi household? The actor replies, “Nearly 50 people come over for lunch or dinner every day and eat with us on banana leaf plates. Our celebrations have now become a celebration for all our loved ones. We make homemade prasad for Bappa and people can come for darshan any time of the day. Yeh tyohaar sabko jodta hai.”

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Tripathi also feels strongly about ensuring that his family’s festivities are environmentally conscious. “We have an eco-friendly murti; the visarjan takes place at a small pond near our home,” he says and asserts, “Humare sanskriti mein suraj, paani, dharti, sab ki puja hoti hai. Our festivals are the worship of nature and ecosystems.”

This festive season is a particularly loaded one for Tripathi, who lost his brother-in-law Rajesh Tiwari, in a car accident earlier this year. “Iss saal parivarik roop se hum emotional peeda mein the, toh yeh utsav mujhe lagta hai usse overcome karne mein madad karega. Yeh jeevan hai jo humein sikhata hai ki aagey chalte rehna hai, emotional utar chadav aata rehta hai,” he wraps up.