Zehn's Puja

Being away from our roots and hometown, it's very important for me and my hubby, Bobby to educate our 5 year old daughter about our culture. So, I took her to the Durga puja pandal to introduce her to the 5 deities. 

As i explained the gods and goddesses and their history, she asked me why is Lord Ganesha always present. To indulge her, I told her that in case you don't want to study or do your homework, or if you don't want to eat, ask Ganesh ji and he will help you. 

After our Darshan that night, and of course, devouring a whole lot of snacks like fish chops and chicken cutlets at the various food stalls, we decided to skip dinner. As is the routine, I sit with Zehn for an hour teaching her, before hitting the sack. Since it was a festive occasion, I decided to forego the studies. 

At night, we said our prayers to God and when we were just about to sleep, Zehn whispered, "Mama, Jai Ganeshi listened to my prayers. I told him I don't want to eat dinner nor study tonight and I did neither." Very soberly I asked her what do we pray for, to the other deities, and she cooly replied, "woh mujhe yaad nahin hai." 

Trust a child to know what she wants from her God, even if she is still in kindergarten.