After 45 Years, Muslim Devotee Babu Sheikh Brings Ganpati Home in Pune

Kothrud, 27th August 2025: For Babu alias Gulam Gaus Razzak Sheikh, a lifelong Ganesh mandal worker from Karvenagar, this year’s Ganeshotsav holds a special meaning. After 45 years of actively helping install idols at public mandals, Babu Sheikh has finally fulfilled his long-cherished wish of bringing Lord Ganesha home.

Sheikh, who has been associated with the Bhole Nath Mandal in Narayan Peth since childhood and even served as its president 11 years ago, has been an ardent devotee and volunteer. He fondly recalls his early years playing the dhol-tasha in the famous Bijli Talim Mandal band, which was once the only such troupe in the Deccan–Karvenagar area. “Back then, we used to erect bamboo pavilions ourselves and decorate them with lights. It allowed us to explore our creativity,” he said.

Though Sheikh regularly participated in public Ganesh installations for over four decades, his dream was always to welcome the deity into his own home. This year, that wish came true when a friend’s daughter gifted him a beautifully crafted marble idol of Lord Ganesha. On Ganesh Chaturthi, the family performed a traditional hom-havan ritual to consecrate the idol in their home shrine with devotion and gratitude.

“We are devotees of Sai Baba and Swami Samarth and regularly read the Guru Charitra. By Bappa’s blessings, our family is happy and united. This year, we are celebrating a ten-day Ganesh festival at home,” Sheikh shared with visible emotion.

Beyond the rituals, Babu Sheikh also shared a heartfelt message of harmony and humanity: quoting Sane Guruji’s lines, ‘Prabhu chi lekare saari, tayala sarv hi pyari’ (We are all children of the same divine being), he appealed to people to reject discrimination and discord. “Sowing seeds of division among communities is an insult to God’s creation. We are all one,” he emphasized.