…with a heavy heart and aching legs. Not that one minded. One does not. One actually sobs with no sense of decorum during the visarjaan, provoking the child to ask one why one is crying, and who needs to be pummelled to put things right with my world. We hadnt done the regular shennanigan of inviting everyone we knew this year, partly due to the swine flu scare and partly due to the fact that we’ve been under the weather collectively this past month. Nonetheless, the crowds were there on day one. And it was a blessing to see so many coming for a darshan of our Ganapati. And I wore the red saree. Needed something slimming given that I have lost all rights to wear tissue and other such unforgiving fabrics that flare out and are meant for women who need extra bulking up in order to seem substantial and not ethereal. Reserving the green gold for Diwali. By which time, I hope I get to ethereal, collar bone showing levels.
And yes, will do it all over again the next year, with greater joy!
About Kiran Manral
Kiran Manral is a writer and major social media influencer. After quitting her full-time journalist’s job when her son was born, Kiran became a mommy blogger on the internet, with a remarkably original voice. She was a journalist at The Asian Age, The Times of India, features editor Cosmopolitan, India Cultural Lead and Trend spotter at Gartner Iconoculture US, Senior Consultant at Vector Insights, Ideas Editor, SheThePeople.TV. Kiran is currently a celebrated author and an independent research and media consultant.
She was shortlisted for the Femina Women Awards for Literary Contribution in 2017. The Indian Council of UN Relations (ICUNR) supported by the Ministry of Women and Children, Govt of India, awarded her the International Women’s Day Award 2018 for excellence in the field of writing. In 2021 she was awarded the Womennovator 1000 Women of Asia award. In 2022, she was named amongst the 75 Iconic Indian women in STEAM by Red Dot Foundation and Beyond Black, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, and British High Commission, New Delhi.
Her novella, Saving Maya, was long-listed for the 2018 Saboteur Award, supported by the Arts Council of England in the UK. Her novels 'The Face At the Window’ and ‘Missing, Presumed Dead were both long-listed for Jio MAMI Word to Screen, and ‘The Face at the Window’ was showcased at the South Asian Film Festival 2019. The Kitty Party Murder was shortlisted for the Popular Choice award at the 2021 JK Papers TOI AutHER awards.
Her other books include The Reluctant Detective, Once Upon A Crush, All Aboard, Karmic Kids-The Story of Parenting Nobody Told You, A Boy’s Guide to Growing Up, True Love Stories, 13 Steps to Bloody Good Parenting, Raising Kids with Hope and Wonder in Times of a Pandemic and Climate Change, More Things in Heaven and Earth and Rising: 30 Women Who Changed India. She also has published short stories in various magazines, in acclaimed anthologies like Have A Safe Journey, Boo, The Best Asian Speculative Fiction 2018, Grandpa’s Tales, Magical Women and City of Screams. Kiran lives in Mumbai with her family.
Social media handles
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KiranManral
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kiranmanral/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KiranManralAuthorPage
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiranmanral/
Fortytwoandcounting 
Visarjan done..good hai 🙂
You should have put up a pic of ganpati atleast isnt it?
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Where be the picture? I think I teared up a little reading about the visarjan 😦
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Aniruddha/ G: Put pics up.
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Very nice pic of ganpati. And you too. You look smashing K!
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naice
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Looking very chikni Kiran!
And Ganapati and decorations look fabulous.
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lovely decorations yaar…lot of effort has gone in to it..you look awsome
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@all: Thank you. Thank you.
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