What keeps families ticking, a cynic had once quipped, is the domestic tiff. The remark, dripping with black humour, holds true for the worlds of both men and gods. Courts in India have had to intervene repeatedly to settle disputes between warring husbands and wives, wives and in-laws, children and their aged parents. India and the world seem to be teeming with brooding broods. It is not all fun and games for those residing in heaven either. The celestial family, especially the one documented in Hindu mythology, has often been shaken and stirred by the thunder hurled by quarrelling gods. Shiva, it is said, once fought Krishna in order to protect a devotee who had earned Krishna’s wrath. In another tale, Shiva — the temperamental one? — took up arms against Parvati’s boy after being refused passage by him. This tradition of skirmishes, benign and deadly, thrives even in kalyug. Bengal — the state can never resist a bit of slam-bang, political or divine — has emerged as the new battleground between two warring deities, Ganesha and Vishwakarma. Kumartuli, which breathes life into gods, has been keeping score of this bout and the word is that the elephant-headed god has a decisive advantage over the one that rides an elephant.
It may be true that Ganesha has stolen Vishwakarma’s thunder when it comes to Puja organizers. But the final score may not be that clear. In fact, it is a pity that the two had to take up cudgels in the first place. For Vishwakarma and Ganesha share a rather dubious legacy in these turbulent times. For all his industriousness — did he not build many a divine edifice? — Vishwakarma has never quite managed to change the fortunes of Bengal’s industry. Even Haldia, once a hub of factories, has, reports suggest, turned its back on Vishwakarma ever since this site of heavy industry in southern Bengal began to lose its sheen. However Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, is unlikely to be in a position to savour his moment of, what the Germans call, schadenfreude. The economic blues unleashed by the Bharatiya Janata Party under the watch of an able prime minister have led to India’s growth path being littered with formidable obstacles. In fact, the news of India’s gross domestic product falling to five per cent — the lowest in six years — must have caused Ganesha to let out a deafening trumpet in protest. The purported war drums of the gods seem to have drowned out the handful of sane voices arguing that the two, Ganesha and Vishwakarma, are, in fact, sailing on the same sinking boat.
Something else may have eluded public attention as well. Many of the members of the divine tribe are vested with discernible human attributes. They, myths suggest, laugh, cry, love and experience loss just as their devotees do. Is there then a case to suggest that had puny Man found a way of attaining durable peace, perhaps the mighty gods would have laid down their weapons of war?
