My Annaprashan Ceremony

Day came and went but not before leaving memories that I am going to treasure for the rest of my life. The significance of this day began to sink in only after I wore my new dress that mom got stitched for the occasion. I was basking in the glory of that dress with happiness written all over my face.
As you know Annaprashan ceremony is about food, so my dadee first cooked the rice-pudding (kheer) for the prasad (first bite of solid food that I will eat once rituals are complete). After my dadee finished cooking kheer, my chachee took charge of kitchen for cooking the rest of the lunch.

The ceremony started at around 11.30 amidst chanting of sacred hymns followed by a Yajna or Havan . Here is the picture of Havan... It went on for 1 and half hours and I slept through it to wake up in time for my moment. As soon as I woke up, the priest placed a book (symbolising interest in learning), currency note (symbolising interest in accumulating wealth) and a pen (symbolising wisdom) in front of me. I chose book as well as pen leaving the currency note behind. Now, what does this signify; time alone will tell!

Soon afterwards, the priest asked my dadee to give me my first bite of solid foods. This is how the prasad plate was looking with kheer, puree (fried bread), choley and paneer (farmer’s cheese).

My dadee used a silver spoon (that she gifted me along with a silver glass for the occasion) to feed me the prasad. I would eat all the rice pudding off the spoon as soon as she brought it closer to my mouth. Here is the moment as captured by lens........ After this, it was my dada’s turn to give me the prasad followed by my nanee, mummy, Mamta mausi, Sunil mausa, chachee and papa. I was enjoying the taste as well as the attention that I was getting. This day will always remain special to me.

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Our Sunday Chef

They say that DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) intake is good for the development of brain and eyes of a kid during their formative years. It is further believed that algae and fish are the best source of DHA. So, my father used to cook different types of fish for my mom when I was inside her womb; something, he hasn’t done that once since my birth. But, my mom can’t say that anymore as he decided to don the role of a chef again today; after a long time. What he cooked was grilled fish (of white Pomfret ) and Goan fish curry (of Salomon fish). Sandeep uncle and Pallavi aunty joined us for lunch and they enjoyed the taste (that's what they said). My mom is already fond of fish that my papa cooks for her. Cooking fish is always a nostalgic experience for my father, simply because it always reminds him of my Renu bua; she loves eating fish.

For now, I can't eat fish directly but then I am already eating it indirectly- through my mom’s feed. Needless to say that that was the basic motive behind the effort.......Thank you chef!

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अतिथो देवो: भवः (Guest is God)

“अतिथो देवो: भवः” is the motto of our family/home. That explains why our house is always a full house on most of the Sundays/holidays; and yesterday was no exception. We hosted three families and my papa’s cousin separately thus making it 12 guests within a span of 6 hours! Needless to say that I am always the star attraction for every visitor. And trust me it feels great to be showered with praises and blessings, to hear comments on my smile/dimples/clothes/creases etc or be held softly and gently out of love and affection.......Oh yes! it is about time my parents buy a separate cupboard for my clothes as available space is shrinking fast with the expansion in my clothes kitty, which expands with every new visitor.

The steady string of visitors started with the arrival of our Landlord's family of four followed by my papa's friend- Satish uncle's family. Next one to drop in was the most awaited visitor as far as my mom is concerned-Valentina mausi’s (my mom’s childhood friend of 30 years). She visited me along with Mahesh uncle and their 18 month old son-Saksham. They stayed with us for around 3 hours and my mom’s happiness was visible all over her face. Saksham was a busy kid all through his stay in our house.....my Rudra bhai's toys kept him busy! After they left, it was my papa's cousin-Manish uncle waiting on the door; who would then go on to stay with us until dinner.....What a busy sunday it turned out to be in the end! Busy but enjoyable too...

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My Visitors

I was generating good interest amongst relatives and friends of my family as evident from the constant stream of visitors and innumerable congratulatory phone calls. In fact my father had to carry his charger along as his battery would exhaust soon.

During the course of next two days, I would be visited by many relatives & friends of our family. First one to visit was Ramesh uncle and Liz auntie followed by Mamta auntie’s family. I met Riya didi and Shubham bhaiya again. Sandeep uncle dropped in from his work. In the evening it was Chetan uncle's turn; he clicked my pictures on his E-91 Nokia phone for Vaishali auntie.In between came, Dharamveer uncle and Uma uncle. Next in line was Rinki bua's family who came alongwith Archu bua, Rajiv mamu and Pihu didi. I had seen them earlier when I was in my mom's womb; but was meeting them for the first time outside. My mother's colleague Ajay uncle also visited me with Disha auntie and Arnab bhaiya. Mayank chachu, Tinku chachu, Manish chachu & Anugrah mumu came calling at night followed by Anil mamu & Mohan uncle.

I would be relieved from hospital on 6th and my father was completing the formalities when he saw Ruchi bua who was visiting hospital for Ved Budaji's tests. They both came upstairs to see me despite budaji not feeling well. I was greatly moved by that. I wish Budaji good health and pray that he gets well soon.

My feeble mind can't remember the names of any more people; but I am sure there were many others too. I wish to thank everyone for their good wishes and blessings. I would need them for the rest of my life.

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