Last week we celebrated a few things. Friday was Varalakshmi pooja for San, and the weekend was the thread changing ceremony for me.
The idea behind the Varalakshmi pooja is that the women pray to the goddess for their husbands long life with the tacit assumption that a long life for the hubby is a good thing for the entire family. What really happens actually in those 24 hours, on the day of the pooja would put any Jack Bauer season to shame, given the amount of twists and turns that happen during the event.
This year the camera never came out to take pictures of the kids after the function. We should have them dress up tomorrow and take a picture to add to this collection. Also this year, for the first time in a long time, I was hale and healthy during August. August has never been good to me for unknown reasons. My parents used to dread the month because as a child I had maybe 1 or 2 normal days in August. This year my health has seen a welcome change!
The day after Varalakshmi pooja, the plan was for me to go do Yoga early, come back to take a shower and do the thread changing ceremony. That did not work out as planned, as we had slept late the previous night after all the festivities and I snored away till 6 AM. A little over three hours later, finished the thread changing and completed repeating the Gayathri manthra a 1008 times. This year, I did it in the backyard, because it was very pleasant outside. Was almost in a trance and was very calm and serene. Went to yoga class right after that and it made quite a difference. If you sit and meditate for 2 hours and then go do yoga, the breathing comes easy! Unfortunately that cannot be repeated on a daily basis given the usual work and home schedule.
The work week rolled past quickly and yesterday was Gokulashtami. A birthday celebration for Krishna. Wife and kids did the usual welcome by drawing baby feet that come into the house and take Krishna right to the treats.
For Christian friends who read this blog, this is the desi equivalent to keeping cookies and milk for Santa and posting a sign near the chimney that says "this way to cookies". Our kids didn't have any doubts of Santa coming down to eat cookies and leaving them gifts when they were young. Think of Gokulashtami as Krishmas. In Krishmas, the gift is the FOOD!
When I walked into the house, my first thought was "Looks like Krishna is developing an arch support problem and needs to do more awkward pose.". My criticism of the feet was received poorly by the three girls.
We made some sweets and savories for the little god (and our two little gods) to enjoy. This year, I took some shortcuts and made rava seedai instead of the regular ones and some Thattai. Went mild on the salt and chilli so the kids can eat. Apparently they like it "a little more spicier than this".
The little one said "the look, texture and crispiness is all fine, but it needs more spice". In short she gave me a B+ at best.
We have ten more days to go before celebrating the elephant god's brithday with a different genre of sweets. Just thinking of that is making my mouth water. Travel does kill a lot of the festival season fun and it is going to be no different this year.
For now, it is time to finish off the current stock of sweets and savories before the next bunch comes in. The kids have come to the conclusion that all these celebrations of god birthdays back to back in August/September is just an excuse for families to get together and make different specialty foods at least once a year. Told them "yep, that is pretty much it".
Next year, I am going to make sure they know how to make some of this stuff themselves.
