{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Fly and a Butterfly podcast with Vishnu Vaka and Mahitha Vaka","title":"Ganesh Chaturthi: Everything We Miss About Growing Up in India | Episode 18 A","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/78222f88\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2690,"description":"What starts as a conversation about Ganesh Chaviti quickly turns into a trip through our childhoods in India — the festivals, family traditions, schools, religion, and beliefs that shaped the way we see the world today.\nVishnu remembers growing up with stories of Ganesha, waking up early with the neighborhood kids to collect patri for the puja, visiting different Ganesh celebrations, and the excitement surrounding the festival and Nimajjanam.\nAnd, of course, he somehow manages to personally identify with Ganesha because of one childhood incident involving way too much sambar rice. 😂\nFrom there, we go back to our school days. Both of us attended Christian/convent schools while growing up Hindu, leading to some funny — and surprisingly meaningful — memories about nuns, church, cricket, prayer, and learning about different religions while still practicing our own traditions.\nThe conversation eventually becomes bigger than Ganesh Chaviti.\nWe talk about why Hindu traditions use physical representations of God, what rituals meant to us as children versus what they mean to us now, and what it was like growing up in an India where Hindu, Christian and Muslim traditions could all be part of your everyday life.\nLater, we get into Jyotisha, astrology, faith and belief — including how our relationship with these ideas has changed over time and whether sometimes the power of belief itself can give people reassurance when life feels uncertain.\nAnd Mahitha shares a prediction she was once given about the person she would eventually marry… which becomes especially interesting considering she ended up marrying someone named Vishnu.\nIn this episode:\nCelebrating Ganesh Chaviti growing up in India\nVishnu's childhood connection to Ganesha — and sambar rice 😂\nFamily pujas and childhood festival traditions\nWaking up early to collect patri for Ganesha\nGanesh idols and the tradition of Nimajjanam\nWhat religious rituals meant to us as children\nGrowing up Hindu while attending...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/J5lkWfd_kMCVwf_HuY-mYUooVuHnsQi_iG7h-b1VCIM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85YWU2/OGY1Y2VhOWIwMWFh/MmI1ZDBkYjEyZjg3/MzdhZS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}