mero blog

this blog post comes after many months. my last blog was posted on 8th december 2013 from camberley where i stayed for 2 months, waiting to be a grandma. my granddaughter ria (whom I call chhanu) was born three days later on 11-12-13. and on friday, 2nd may 2014, was chhanu's pasni. -- the rice feeding ceremony, or the first time she is introduced to complementary feeding of cereals!

kripa, and priya (who had gone to help out her sister for a month) had come to kathmandu 12 days earlier. the day chosen for the pasni was the auspicious occasion of akshaya tritiya, the day lord shiva and parvati got married! like all auspicious days, there was rainfall on that day too, following a night punctuated with thunder and lightning!!

a day before the pasni.. preparations full swing in the kitchen for the next day's rituals...

.. the day of the pasni started with the 'rudri'... baba presiding in the rituals, being guided by rajan ...

mami. kripa, chhanu and myself joined in for the pasni -specific rituals

hamma and chhanu

kripa doing puja

... meanwhile next door, in muwa's room, guests had already started coming in...

kripa decided to represent the missing gujarati side of ria's family by wearing her sari the gujarati way...

preparing the pasni tapari in the living room

priya stylishly brings in the clothes and accessories the pasni girl is meant to wear

ria is quiet as the clothes are put on. this velvet jama set was worn by buwa, (ria's great grandpa) i believe.. although muwa seems to have gotten new embroidery in some time later... what i am holding in my hand is the great rakshyamala.. with all sorts of rare talisman.. all supposed to offer protection to the baby...

elders watch on...

ria all ready. i'd stitched the special cap for her the day earlier to match with the clothes.. and the silver anklet that she is wearing is something i am supposed to have worn in my pasni.. and which deviji gave to me some years ago...

an improvised hanuman in shocking pink wig and gangling sel ears.. santosh tries to scare ria, as part of the ritual.. but she is unfazed!

.. the mother seems more amused than the baby!..

... next we tried to make ria choose her career. this is meant to be done as part of the waking up process, as she emerges from sleep.. but we wanted to do it differently.. we had all kinds of items on a tray... representing medical, engineering, businesswoman, fashion designer, wildlife expert, unicef staff.. :)

ria looked at the items with quite a lot of interest.. but it seemed she did not find something she was looking for! some of our guests quipped.. what you should have had is a 'kursi' (chair) maybe what she wanted to be in the future was a politician!! :)

.. finally the garlands were put on.. the dubo ko mala we ordered had such long dubo, we decided that we should wrap it around her waist instead of around the neck... so with the lei around her waist and another floral one around her neck, she did seem like miniature hula girl...

then it was time for rice feeding.. mother going first. since ria's phupu, ami, is in new zealand, ria was carried by her 'sanma' priya

ria seems to be open to the idea of being fed something other than mum's milk!

interesting reaction of sanma and chhanu!

... then baby is back in mother's lap and ready to be fed rice (more like phirni) by all guests

muwa, nearly 100, goes in first...

irritated by the gold chain being pushed down her neck, as part of muwa's gift, ria loses her cool. starts complaining in the beginning... it got worse by the time mami was done with her presentations and blessings...

... by the time baba was feeding she was in a not so good a mood!

... not happy...

.. so we thought she was stuffy and started to undress her bit by bit.. the garlands and the rakshyamala were the first to go.. then the top... as sanma priya and sanba avaya get ready for their turn..

.. then started the line for blessing, feeding and gifting ria... here is dada.. ria is the first great grandchild for him and deviji...

the rakshyamala becomes an improvised rattle to distract ria from time to time...

budi sanima bajai's turn...

renudijju...

"chha ki chhaina?" (is it there or isn't it there?) one more mode of distraction...

.. sanma does the rattle while thulomama tries to feed chhanu...

licchimami's next

deepak babu tries to feed her...

... followed by jyoti, jethi budhi phupu!

.. next up is prava, the sani budhi phupu!

.. chhanu gets worshipped by bindu bhauju...

... and 'tika'ed... by ashokda...

.. and fed more ... by padma...

... showered with dakhsina... rita this time..

... spoon to the lips.. once more with rajesh...

.. no more.. she seems to say...

sure? jetho mama bajey daji has a go...

.. followed by the grand aunt milan...

... noooo.. she writhes... as sameer approaches with a spoon...

a bit calmer.. as great grand uncle kishore raja... gets ready with the rice

.. a bit of fanning from great grand aunt anu...

.. madhu's next...

...gajju mama seizes a quieter moment...

and then milap mama...

rattle rattle as shanta budi maiju tries her hand...

a couple of' 'whooppa whooppa' brings a glimmer of smile...

..pretty budi sanima bajais all in a row

finally the bhrrrrrrrr (vibrating bouncer) is brought to calm her down

.. and she does calm down, here being fed by pakku...

.. and then nischal jwain...

.. followed by my phupus (and ria's great grand aunts)... here is kanchhudidi...

... and then buludidi...

.. ganga and radha...

ria's ama and sanma happy to see a calm chhanu

a much more relaxed and happier chhanu once the feeding ceremony is over

.. latecomers, like gaurub, take advantage of that fact...

soon the party moved downstairs for the 'feeding of the guests'; bit.. and this is where latecomer sano mama bajey catches up with his grand niece ria...

.. the rains stopped during lunch...

.. getting ready for ganeshthan...

ria was accompanied by her mamas - milap and eelum- and her ama to ganeshthan, along with rajan. tired as she was, the little one slept through the entire trip!