I have been tagged by
Shilpa to do this picture tag.
First, the rules of this do:
Pick the 6th picture of your 6th photo folder.
Tell a story around it.
Pass it on to six other people you like.
Well, I don’t have folders in my picture album at all. Yes, I am that organized and I don’t call the computer we have at home, ‘mine’. My husband and father-in-law exercise complete rights over the piece. So, of whatever I have on my comp at the office, I am trying to string in a couple of them together and make a story.
I am going to post about the Varalakshmi Nombu at my place. It is called ‘Varamahalakshmi’ here in Bangalore, Karnataka. My in-laws do not observe this function, mostly because they are from Palakkad, Kerala. We celebrate this at my parents place even as we are basically Tamils (guess many sects of Tambrams do). So a year after we got married, I asked my m-i-l if I could take this up in our home. Of course, she said. And this function apparently requires a lot of preparation, commitment and devotion. You just are not allowed to skip a year in between for whatever reasons. The fast as well as the festivities are observed in the coming week or at some one else’s place who celebrates the same.
The first year of this puja, my parents and sister came down from Chennai and it was so much fun, donning the nine yards saree and chanting the mantras and all. The last year, in 2008, I had arranged for a purohit to come home to help me perform the puja and because my in-laws do not have an idea what to do, I had to get all instructions from my mom and do all the prep here myself. My father-in-law came out shopping with me for fruits and flowers and my mother-in-law fully did all the bakshanam (prasadam and other eats). I just helped her in parts and left the scene as the purohit came home. I love this function for some unknown reason, perhaps it’s the aura in the house, the smells of so many flowers, the ‘bagyada lakshmi baramma’ song, the mantras, the sense of satisfaction – something or all of it…..I love it.
I am otherwise not a religious person, but there are some rituals, functions and festivals that we follow that I feel binds us together and I love the feeling that I have Aditi as a witness to all that I do, she understands bits and pieces of it, wears the ‘pattu pavadai’ (silk skirt and blouse) and all of us at home prepare for it – so much peace.
And that is all I want!
Btw, I don't know whom to tag, so please feel free to take this up if it interests you.