Navratri : Literally..9 nights. In celebration : the 9 days to celebrate the Goddess.
Navratri is a very wistful time this year. A time when memories come flooding...of me as a 3 year old walking with my dad to the society Garba in Red Flats - our 1st home in Baroda..of Amma buying ‘chaniya cholis’ for me each year..of Amma and Appa dropping me off and picking me up late late nights after my Garba (how did they stay occupied keeping up till 1-2 am, waiting to pick up their 10-11 year old ? How did it never strike them to refuse me ?) , of Amma celebrating ‘Vethlai Paaku’ : inviting married women and giving them betel leaves and tobacco (she didn’t differentiate caste or creed. If you were married, and you were her friend, she invited you) of visiting other South Indian homes in Baroda to see their ‘Golus’ ; of going with Amma, much much later in life, to Jatujak market in Bangkok, to pick out cute gifts for her to give out during Navratri : tiny change purses one year, a colourful ‘kumkum’ Dabba another year... of eating the many varieties of ‘Sundal.’ Navratri is also about Saraswati pujai each year....putting away books on ‘Ashtami’ ..All our books, Amma’s Veenai, and then our laptops too. Saying ‘Saraswati Namastubhyam’ aprayer on Navami, and then starting Dussehra with writing ‘ABCD’ and for some reason, the Hindi alphabet too !
Festivals and Amma are inextricably linked. She celebrated each one, in full pomp and fare, every single year. There is no time that reminds me of her more, than the festival season...
She is a Goddess now, isn’t she ? Like the ones she celebrated each year, during Navratri.
Navratri is a very wistful time this year. A time when memories come flooding...of me as a 3 year old walking with my dad to the society Garba in Red Flats - our 1st home in Baroda..of Amma buying ‘chaniya cholis’ for me each year..of Amma and Appa dropping me off and picking me up late late nights after my Garba (how did they stay occupied keeping up till 1-2 am, waiting to pick up their 10-11 year old ? How did it never strike them to refuse me ?) , of Amma celebrating ‘Vethlai Paaku’ : inviting married women and giving them betel leaves and tobacco (she didn’t differentiate caste or creed. If you were married, and you were her friend, she invited you) of visiting other South Indian homes in Baroda to see their ‘Golus’ ; of going with Amma, much much later in life, to Jatujak market in Bangkok, to pick out cute gifts for her to give out during Navratri : tiny change purses one year, a colourful ‘kumkum’ Dabba another year... of eating the many varieties of ‘Sundal.’ Navratri is also about Saraswati pujai each year....putting away books on ‘Ashtami’ ..All our books, Amma’s Veenai, and then our laptops too. Saying ‘Saraswati Namastubhyam’ aprayer on Navami, and then starting Dussehra with writing ‘ABCD’ and for some reason, the Hindi alphabet too !
Festivals and Amma are inextricably linked. She celebrated each one, in full pomp and fare, every single year. There is no time that reminds me of her more, than the festival season...
She is a Goddess now, isn’t she ? Like the ones she celebrated each year, during Navratri.
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