Former Miss World Manushi Chhillar, who is all set to debut in Bollywood with Akshay Kumar’s Prithviraj, is celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi for the first time. The 23-year-old gorgeous Haryanvi girl, who now lives in Mumbai, wanted to celebrate Ganesh puja at her home with family.
“My parents always wanted me to experience different cultures and celebrate them. I’m from Haryana but Mumbai is my home too. I was fascinated by the Ganpati celebrations in the city when I first experienced it. The energy, the love and the passion with which people in Maharashtra celebrate Ganpati are really special and I was charmed by it,” says Manushi.
She was immediately enamoured by Ganesh puja and promptly decided to keep Ganpati at home. Manushi says, “I remember speaking to my parents that I wanted to celebrate Ganpati at home. They immediately said yes and I was thrilled. So, this is the first year that I’m keeping Ganpati at home and I couldn’t be happier. It is an extremely special moment for me and I will pray for peace and prosperity for everyone”.
Being a conscious citizen of the country, Manushi is celebrating the festival in an eco-friendly way. She explains, “The Ganpati I’m keeping at home is an eco-friendly one. It has seeds embedded in the idol so I’m going to do the Visarjan also at home in a clay tree pot. I’m looking forward to nurturing the seeds well so that life sprouts from it".
“Celebrating festivals like this is very important because it brings people and cultures closer but if we can celebrate it in the most eco-friendly way, we will also contribute towards nature conservation,” she adds.