Ganesh Chaturthi arrives every year with a holy trinity—plates of modaks, oversized pandals, and a 10-day countdown to Visarjan. Somewhere along the way, memes find their way in.
This year’s feed began with the yearly classics. A text exchange that asks “What is LGBT?” and answers “Lord Ganesha Bhakti Time”. A 2021 doodle of a chef and an apprentice staring down at a Ganesh-shaped cake on a plate carries the caption, “I’m guessing this is your first attempt at ganache.”
“As a Hindu, I’m offended by the Hindu that are offended by this,” a comment read.
Turns out, no pun is too far as long as Bappa is in the frame.
These two jokes make their pilgrimage to the top of the timeline every year without fail. We love to double-tap them anyway. It is tradition, after all.
That isn’t to say there aren’t new jokes.
In the Viral Spiral of Ganesh festival memes, new classics have entered the feed, led by the season’s unofficial soundtrack: “iPhone ho ya Samsung, Ganpati Bappa handsome, China ho ya Korea, Ganpati Bappa Morya.” At last count, the audio had powered more than 26 thousand reels. Perhaps Ganpati will solve the global geopolitical conflict. Gulzar could never.
The comment sections of the memes are all lit with chants of “Ganpati bappa morya”. Laughter, too, is devotional after all.
An AI-generated photograph of a cat holding its head in its paw, looking horrified, was posted with the text: “Ganesh ji ki aarti mein sukh harta dukh karta bol diya (Accidentally prayed to keep the happiness away, and give me the misery).” In true viral Instagram post fashion, the caption was an irrelevant film review in Russian.
“Ab pata chala galti kahan ho rahi hai (Now I know where I am going wrong),” a comment replied.
What is god if not a convenient place to park the blame for a life you refuse to own? As someone with zero religious bones in my body, I’ll admit the memes are solid.
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Modak-shaming the north
The Modak discourse has a subgenre of its own.
“Ladle modak ke mamle mein sharing not allowed (Dearest, no sharing allowed when it comes to modaks),” a post warned. Ganpati would be proud.
Someone else announced that they were fully committed to “modak-maxxing.” Imagine trying to explain that to someone who is chronically offline.
Faith remains optional, but modak is mandatory. Of course, North India received its obligatory annual beating for being uncultured. Several posts pointed out that north Indians have spent their entire lifetimes eating pedas shaped vaguely like modaks and calling it a day.
“Iss Ganesh Chaturthi bhi modak nahi khaa paaya (couldn’t get a modak this year either),” one caption mourned.
“Couldn’t break streak this year as well,” said an equally dejected commenter.
Trying modaks is a dream for many in the North. Couldn’t be me, though. Our Marathi colleague came through with a plate full of homemade, beautifully shaped modaks. Someone at the office called them ‘sweet momos’. Sure.
I still don’t entirely get the hype around the sweet, though. They are okay, at best. I said what I said.
The darkest joke of the season arrived with a video of Salman Khan overlaid with the words: “Jaise mere din beet rahe hain, mera visarjan ho jaaye toh hairaan mat hona (The way my days have been going, don’t be shocked if I get immersed too).” I hear you, Sallu bhai. Who would mind a Visarjan in this economy?
But the real winner of the season has almost nothing to do with Ganpati.
The clip dominating every feed is Sohail Khan dancing like a man possessed at the Khan family’s Visarjan. Arms flailing, jeans rolled up, with zero regard for dignity or camera angles. The footage has lived multiple lives on Instagram Reels by now—recut and captioned differently each time. And they are all equally funny.
Sohail really said dance like nobody’s watching—except we all were.
The chants will continue, the Visarjan will happen, the modaks will be guarded, and will still somehow disappear. And then next year, before we even realise, it’ll be time for LGBT—Lord Gansha Bhakti Time—again.
Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)