Chapter 11: chapter 11

When the Moon Called Lord Ganesha FatIt was Lord Ganesha’s birthday. To celebrate, his mother, Goddess Parvati, planned a lavish dinner and cooked him all his favourite dishes.Everyone knows Lord Ganesha loves food. There was kheer, shrikhand and puri-bhaji, kesar bhaath, payasam and masala khichdi. The star of the meal was, of course, Lord Ganesha’s favourite food—modaks. Ganesha was crazy about them. Ma Parvati would serve hot modaks to him. Ganesha would then gently make a tiny opening in the steaming modak, pour a little ghee into the sweet coconut filling and then put the whole modak in his mouth and chew to his heart’s content. That particular evening, the modaks were extra delicious.The problem was Ganesha had way too many modaks for his own good. By the time dinner was done, his tummy was almost bursting. He felt so sated that he just wanted to sink in the bed and go to sleep. But it was a weeknight and he had work next morning. Since Lord Ganesha is the Vighnaharta—the destroyer of all obstacles—everyone in the universe needed his help to get their work done.So, after some dawdling, Ganesha got up from the dinner table to leave. His faithful carrier, Mushak the Mouse, had already finished his dinner and was waiting at the palace entrance. He silently grimaced as Ganesha sat on his back to leave for home. Ganesha’s tummy was huge from all the feasting, and it was a challenge for Mushak to make the journey home that evening.The Moon was at a loose end that evening. He had lit up the sky at the given hour and his work for the night was going quite smoothly. Now he was bored. Looking around, he spotted Ganesha on the back of Mushak the Mouse; the two were trundling down the road with great difficulty. To add to the problem, Lord Ganesha’s huge belly kept wobbling and jiggling as Mushak dragged them both along. Ultimately, Mushak fell flat on his face, causing Lord Ganesha to slide off and fall.The Moon couldn’t help but laugh out loud. ‘Lord Ganesha, don’t you think you have eaten way too much tonight? Your tummy is so large, swinging this way and that, and poor Mushak can barely carry you on his back. Maybe you should get a rhino to carry you instead,’ he said impolitelyThe Moon was immediately apologetic. He hadn’t meant to fat-shame Ganesha. He was just poking some fun and it got out of hand. Instantly, he said, ‘I am sorry, Lord Ganesha. I didn’t mean to insult you. It was insensitive of me to make snide remarks like that. Please forgive me and take back your curse.’But Lord Ganesha refused. He stomped back home. The very next night, the distraught Moon realised that he had put on a few inches. Every night of that week, he put on a little more weight. By the end of ten days, he had grown quite chubby. Lord Ganesha had begun stepping out onto his terrace every night to look at the Moon and laugh at his size.The Moon felt terrible about his mistake. He visited Ma Parvati to ask her to intervene. Ma Parvati agreed that Lord Ganesha had overreacted and that the curse was too harsh a punishment for what the Moon had done.‘I can see that you are sorry for what you did. I know that you work hard every night of the year to light up the sky for everyone on Earth. I will try and put in a word for you with Ganesha. But a curse once uttered cannot be recalled. It can only be amended,’ she warned.The Moon nodded morosely and went home. Ma Parvati held a meeting with Ganesha to request him to retract his curse. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Ganesha himself had come to mildly regret his hasty words. The Moon was called to join them.‘I’m extremely sorry for insulting you. I promise that I won’t ever comment on anyone’s size or shape ever again,’ he said earnestly.With maturity and wisdom, Ganesha said, ‘I was wrong to give you this harsh a punishment. I should have realised that curses cannot be taken back and should be uttered with more care. I cannot retract this curse fully but let me amend it: You will gain weight for a fortnight. But you will lose all that weight within the next fortnight. May you get a night off to disappear from the world to rest for an evening. May you continue to wax and wane like this for the rest of eternity.’The Moon heaved a sigh of relief and returned home with a big smile on his cheery face He couldn’t wait for his night off!