Hi Everyone...
Sorry for the looong hiatus!! The months of spring passed and summers are almost through and I was missing for good. Actually all of my family was busy keeping me tied up and busy all through and not to speak of my Dad, who was successful in making a tight schedule of trips and movements!! The month of May was more of a whirlwind.
In May we all visited Puri for me to pay obeisance to the famous Lord Jagannath. And it was a wonderful experience. I boarded a train for the first time in my life. I was initially a bit edgy of suddenly being in a curtained small hole and some strange kind of cluttering noise, but then the sleep was amazing. Cool climes, a blanket and mommy dear wrapping me in herself. And morning we were in Puri. That evening I saw a huge water body with huge splashes and noise and tried to see if there was any semblance with the water tub at home and alas .... I found none. But I found an amazingly heavy flow of air .... probably some hidden mammoth fan. And I went into a sound sleep as my dad was carrying me, walking along the beach with momma alongside and singing some "lullaby" (God save the original singers!!). In the evening my Dada toook me to a place in the hotel with another huge bath tub and I saw many kids splashing around with couple of nice guys around!! And I was quite glued until time was up. The next day was a visit to the temple. I felt a little scared when I was going around the main deity on my Dada's lap and there was an area of utter darkness. But then it was light again and it was all hunky dory. All of them prayed for various things and I prayed for none. I actually met my old friends with whom I often play in my dreams. Thats what my grannies say. Check out the snaps at http://picasaweb.google.com/amitabha.ghosh75/PuriVisit
After coming back was the start of packing and preparing to relocate I guess. I saw mom, dad and quite a few people packing all our things with harried speed and Thammi looking forlorn. And then was the preparation for the great day - My Onnoprason.
In the Bengali community, a child is given the first morsel of rice with great celebration and joy. This is also done with religious rites and rituals. There are religious tomes which prescribes that a girl may be given her first morsel ceremonially after she is five month old. My grandparents wanted to conduct this event big time before I shifted to Mumbai and rightfully the priest modified the counting methods and found a "good" date (18 May 2007) for the event. It is said that the entire event is replete with almost all the procedures of a marriage except few. It was great fun. I was dressed up in lot of strange (Obscure??) fashion and people were making a big chaos over feeding me the proverbial bengali sweet dish of "paayesh" or what in hindi is called kheer. And it sure was yummy. Then all were making a huge brouhaha of what I pick from a plate with pen, books money and jewellery. So I took a smart call of picking up the plate!! Have look at the pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/debroop/KritiSAnnaprasan & http://picasaweb.google.com/amitabha.ghosh75/OindrillaSOnnoprason
Any event in the bengali community is incomplete with a good feast or what they call "bhuribhoj" (Obeisance to the gastric). As the day of the puja was a friday, my dada had decided that the "reception" would be on sunday afternoon and with a long and detailed guest list. However, one should not think that there was no feast on the day of the Puja. It was just that there was only vegetarian delicacies on that day!! On the "big feast day" I was totally drained and harried. The entire place was teeming with people and people. And add the sweltering temperatures of Kolkata and one can imagine what a pain it was. I just cannot stand heat!! And above that, everyone who comes, wants to see me, touch me and cuddle me and this had no end. So the best thing to do was throwing a tantrum and I started screaming at the top of my voice and with the accessories of tears and anger. And that did the magic. I go to sleep and no disturbing by anybody. Just have a look from faraway!!! Everyone said that the guests were overflowing. Everyone invited had turn up and even mom and dad's friends from schools. The pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/debroop/KritiSAnnaprasanFunction. The next day was my first formal lunch (by invitation) at my "mamabari" or maternal house and this too had its own version of another big feast.
And with that was the begining of my preparation of shifting to Mumbai. Things are a little dicey with my grandparents not there to pamper me but will have to check out things. Will update you all of how it was in Mumbai in a few days.
Do read and send me your comments. Daddy has been typing for sometime now and I think I will allow him some respite.
