When Lord Ganesha cancelled his bday party I story By Navoneer, 10, Kolkata

And we were off to bed. But neither I nor my elder brother could sleep as we were a  bit upset. Next day is Ganesh Chaturthi, but due to COVID we cannot go for  pandal hopping.

Nearly half an hour had passed when we heard a mouse squeak. We looked  out and to our greatest surprise, what do we see there?

Lord Ganesha on his mouse is standing right outside our house!

“Lord Ganesha,” squeaked the mouse, “You said some kids are sad in this  house so we have come here!”

“Yes you are right, we have come to meet them.”

My elder brother suggested that we should invite them to come in. So I  opened the door and said humbly, “Oh Lord Ganesha, we would be honoured if  you could step in our house and spend some time with us.”

He agreed and came in. We offered them some modak and laddu and after having, that he asked us, “Now tell me why you all are so sad?”

I said,”Lord Ganesha, the Coronavirus is like Mahishashura. It is spreading  death and sadness all over the world.”

“See here in Mumbai too, we cannot go for pandal hopping on our favourite festival, Ganesh Chaturthi.” said my elder brother.

Again I said, “Dear Lord, we all are terrified. Our life has come to standstill, we cannot have guests in our house, we cannot go anywhere, we cannot play with our friends, we cannot even go to school.”

Lord Ganesha listened to us very attentively and then he nodded his head and said, “My dear friends, I can understand your pain. But tell me one thing- is there no light of hope? I know doctors, scientists and lot of others are working day and night to protect the human race from this killer. But to defeat this deadly virus is not so easy.We Gods are also supporting these great warriors and patiently waiting for something positive to come out.”

He paused, took a deep breath and then again he said, “Us Gods are cancelling the celebration of our birthdays on earth just to protect mankind. Please, try to understand. If you want to overcome this hardship and again happily want to celebrate my birthday in future, then this year you need to sacrifice your festival enjoyment and be a little patient till my next birthday comes.”

I said, “Lord Ganesha, I know how it feels when birthday celebrations are  cancelled as mine got cancelled this year too. But yes, you are right. We should be patient.”

Lord Ganesha smiled and said “Hope you understood that it is the time for Gods and humans to team up against the deadly virus and throw it away. Now all of you give me a big smile and a big hug.”

Then he left with his carrier and we bid them goodbye.

We all found that suddenly our sadness had gone and our minds had become light.

We looked into the sky and said, “Thank you Lord Ganesha. We love you a lot. Happy Birthday.”