The Big Day for the Small One
12th March saw our Arunav having his "Annaprasan" (Rice Ceremony: First rice feeding - symbolic for starting solids). It was a bright day and we were so happy all of the 90 odd guests turned up at Rajmahal, Roppongi! Our dear fellow slept the initial phase and then woke up to the hustle bustle of the guests. We had a hard struggle to put on the silk punjabi and dhoti on him since he is not used to any texture other than soft cotton/baby polyester.
Once he was wearing the traditional stuff it was time for adornment of his forehead with spots of chandan(sandalwood paste). That was tough for Sushmitadi and Meeta since Arunav just hates anything being done on his face.
The ceremony started with Sanjeev(makeshift 'mama'/uncle who is supposed to feed him) giving him a few grains of prasad(sacred rice), after which he was given to taste payesh - the traditional Bengali sweetdish - this being prepared with jaggery instead of sugar it was tastier. He seemed to like it - so I heard since parents are not allowed to watch the feeding ceremony!
After the feeding was over, Arunav had to decide his destiny - we offered him a silver plate containing: a Pen(symbol for "education"), a Coin(symbol for "money") and earthen pot depicting "land". The crowd watched with baited breath for the few seconds Arunav was evaluating the stuff in front of him before he grabbed the Coin with his right-hand and then his left-hand took on the Pen - everyone erupted with claps and laughter - and poor Arunav not knowing what he has done to cause such a noise started crying profusely.
I was a bit disappointed at his choice of coin first - I dont know why because there is nothing bad about being rich - but I guess it is the ingrained Bengali psyche in me that 'Education' is above all.
posted by Tuya @ 21:05
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home