Juhi Parmar: My daughter Samairra cries every year on Ganpati visarjan day

Besides being a festival to celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha, the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi holds a deeper significance for actor Juhi Parmar. For her, it all started in 2018, when her daughter Samairra was unwell and that’s when she first brought Bappa home.

“Samairra was falling sick pretty frequently with recurrent headaches, a few days before Ganesh Chaturthi. I was extremely tensed about her health, and that’s when I prayed to Bappa to let everything be good, and I will bring him home. Fortunately, when we went for the MRI, we got to know that it was just sinus triggering the headache and she is fine. On our way back, I thanked bappa on the same signal and pandal, and we brought him home,” says Juhi.

Welcoming ganpati in her home for sixth year, the actor adds, “Bappa and his blessings mean a lot to me. It was an emotional moment and I gained all my strength from him. He truly blessed us.”

For Samairra, Ganesh Chaturthi is more than just a festival and remains her favourite time of the year. “She helps me with the decoration of the house and makes rangolis with excitement,” says the 42-year-old, adding that they believe in keeping the celebrations “simple and authentic”, focusing on heartfelt prayers rather than elaborate displays. “We also make modaks every year. Samairra and I made flame free modaks with Nutella this year,” she tells us.

However, the emotional highlight of their celebration is the visarjan day when they bid farewell to Bappa. “Samairra starts crying every year, and I also get teary-eyed as it is a very emotional moment. After the visarjan, we use that water to water the plants, so that the positivity stays here with us,” states Juhi.

In addition to bringing eco-friendly idols from the market, the mother-daughter duo has a unique ritual of creating their own Ganesha murti as well. “Even if we bring our idol from outside, Samairra wants to make one at home as well. Last year, we crafted an idol using vegetables, and this year, we used aata (flour). The thought behind this is that God is present in everything, and food is another form of God. We are just giving it the shape of Ganpati,” she ends.