this is a maha mega blog of kripa's गोदभराई ('godebharai'- literally filling of the lap) ceremony + her baby shower that happened on sunday, 10th november. the godebharai took place at ravi's cousin, bijalbehn's place in camberley and the small baby shower ceremony (surprise courtesy of kripa's friend nici) in kripa and ravi's apartment. it was a special day, the sun was shining, sky was blue.. to match the auspicious day! was sad that we were having this ceremony away from other family members... but many got connected through skype... the reason why this blog is as detailed is for the benefit of those loved ones
(the pictures and videos taken through several cameras and by various people including florian (the great close-ups are his), anaga, ravi, kripa, and of course me!)
it was kripa's day...
... and of course, ravi and ria's too... the threesome kripa, ravi and ria (see ravi's finger)before heading for bijalbehn's place
being welcomed with tika at the threshold by bijalbehn
kripa was made to step on coloured water and step her way up to the puja place
bijalbehn put a coin beneath her thumb at every step...
...step by step...
details in the video below... (camera ran out of memory midway thus the remain portion of kripa's 'journey' upstairs in another clip a bit later...)
... here's the remaining bit of the climb upstairs to the puja room.. kripa is helped up the stairs by bijelbehn...
... before her paath...
before going down for the ceremony kripa sneaks in to greet louis (dooey the dog) who had been barking and yelping as soon as he heard her voice downstairs!)
coincidental the day was also bijalbehn's birthday!
... kripa rests...
... while her friends elena and roby (and others) start writing their message to ria...
ojas pens in his message to his sister
prakashji (ravi's father) joins in on skype from baroda...
.. meanwhile rekhaji (ravi's mother) has planned for a godebharai song from an indian tv serial to be shown so that the females present can dance to it...
.. the godebharai ceremony begins with bijelbehn doing the sagoon
.. applying 'rakhi' sent by ami (ravi's sister) who couldn't come over from india and thus bijelbehn doing the honours...
the would be father gets his tika too
.. . handing over coconut..
and then the exchange of rice from one pallu to the other
... from bijelbehn's to kripa's... five times...
.. the ceremony on video...
after that it was turn for a dewar (younger brother-in-law) to 'slap' his bhabi / bhauju.. but since dewar was in san francisco, ojas (bhanja) did the honours with some trepidation...
loving hands...
... loving eyes...
.. watch the ceremony on video...
kripa's friends also blessed her with tika and gifts.. elena gets ready here...
.. elena and roby with their gift...
niki's turn...
and then flo does the tika routine
part of the couple's gifts to kripa...
this is the 'sex and name guessing' part of the godebharai ceremony.. both not being a surprise rekhaji had devised a unique way of throwing in letters spelling r-i-a on the baby blanket!
rekhaji also read out the message from her family to ria...
ojas helps her out
rekhaji with kripa whom she calls her 'beti'...
my turn.. started with dasain ko prasad
.. also dahi chiura as per our tradition...
.. of course there were gifts for ria and her mother...
.. also messages from family members in kripa's maiti and mamaghar... the note from cholu choking my voice and making kripa also teary eyed...
ria's piggy fund gifted by ujwal and rehna...
.. here is the bit of my portion of the ceremony.. video was kindly taken by anaga (bijalbehn's friend)
.. then it was time for food.. indian food.. and dahi chiura on the side...
the centre piece on the table was the diaper cake that rekhaji masterminded...
.. and for which the two of us samdhinis and kripa had toiled the night earlier!
kripa with bijalbehn after the ceremony...
...kripa with her friends over lunch...
.. then there were a couple of games up rekhaji's sleeve.. one was 'memory' game... here she is shooing and warning me not to capture the items on camera!
... people try jogging their memory...
elena.. sketches the items out for ease of communication!
louis watches longingly from outside
after that was the game where we had to guess the circumference of kripa's belly.. here is ravi cutting up his estimation...
.. ever the engineer, vasu jijaji scrutinises kripa's body before cutting the string...
.. kripa's belly is measured... 116 cms!
jijaji was the winner coming within 5 cms of the measurement...
the most off was ravi... :)
ravi's thread was double the actual measurement.. which had everyone in fits...
.. he justified it saying his guesstimate was the circumference of the three of them...a result of the way he hugged his wife and baby!
... so that was the end of the godebharai portion of the day...
.. after that we returned to the apartment.. here are the three of them again...
...two moms with the mom to be...
kripa's friends then got to working in making the living room ready for the baby shower bit...
nici, herself nearly 6 months pregnant, had done all the preparations for her friend
.. buntings included clothes for ria!
there were 'baby' showered ll over the floor...
.. and also worn as tika by all... flo
.. and nici too as she prepared in soiling diapers with choco-poo!
kripa meanwhile has changes and is resting in the bedroom...
.. the stage is set...
and kripa comes in.. as amy grant's 'baby baby' plays in the background (nici had a collection of many songs with the word 'baby' in them!)
.. watch the entry...
.. kripa with her 'baby' tika...
.. the couple then make a wish before the cakes...
...with candles reading 'baby shower'...
.. all ready with their wish...
.. and on video...
.. the first game at the baby shower was making the best looking baby with playdoh. ravi was supposed to be the judge...
five minutes later everyone's work of art is gathered.. and people click away...
.. and the three winning babies were those made by elena (smurf) , roby and me (with blue hair) .. the winners had to be decided by voting, after ravi defaulted saying 'the best baby is ama's baby.. which is kripa!" :)
.. the next game was guessing baby food ...
five flavours to be tasted...
kripa and elena won guessing all five flavours.. kripa said her habit of eating bland food helped her in guessing the food...
the next game... was guessing which chocolate 'poop' was in 5 different diapers.. people were told that they could guess in any way they likes.. sniffing, examining, tasting...
initially it is limited to examination...
nici had melted bars of 'mars, 'bounty' 'snickers' 'kit kat' and 'milky way' in the diapers.. tough job of the rest!
roby and ojas react...
close scrutiny...
... puhleeeeze not me....!
guess what it is....?
...hmmmmmmmm.. just a tiny lick by elena...
...flo examines closely...
.. and dares to go further...!
rekhaji tabulating the winner... no one guessed all five flavours.. :)
and the final game.. a competition between kripa and ravi.. where they had to change a soiled diaper of a stuffed doll... kripa was going first, so ravi had to be covered by ria's clothes...
nici starts the clock.. and kripa starts the routine...
the crocodile's tails hanging between the legs is definitely confusing!
next it is ravi's turn...
.. he too gets flummoxed by the tail... watch it in this video that kripa captured... the laughter and the impatient 'baby cries' of roby and elena.. had everyone in stitches...
.. this was the you tube crying baby tape..
.. but roby and elena's were much more fun.. including wailing 'i want mommy!".. when ravi was changing diapers and getting confused!
afterwards kripa started opening presents given by all.. and including those brought from india and nepal.. and those bought by her ...
ravi's favourite baby wear...
.. the clothes and stuff pile up....
.. and kept on piling... forming what they referred to as 'mt. ria' !!
... time to clean up after everyone's left...
.. so that was the godebharai and baby shower functions... thanks to the handiwork of this couple!
