Annaprasana
Ok, it is official. I am getting 2 teeth. The lower ones. It might take a few more days. But I already started feeling 'teethy'.
What does being teethy mean?
a) Stop being interested in 'teething' toys
b) Sudden interest in anything that moves - like Nanna's fingers, my toes etc
c) Sudden interest in anything that doesn't move - like soiled diapers, TV remote, Nanna's cell phone etc
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Big prizes are waiting for those with the correct answer. So hurry up. Call 1-800-244-5653 (1-800-BIG-JOKE) with your answers.
Anyway, having seen my new-found interest in putting all things in my mouth... my parents decided that it was time to redirect my attention to food. Solid food. At last. But before I can eat solid food, a ceremony needs to be performed - Annaprasana.
So Amma and Nanna invited their friends (since I don't have any, YET) for this occassion. They also invited a priest to conduct the ceremony. Amma made some Paravannam (kheer?). Nanna took his ring and fed me a ring-full. I hope he cleaned his ring before doing that! Amma soon followed and fed me another ring-full of that sweet ricey thing.
What followed next was more of a tradition than anything religious. Amma put the following things around me in a semi-circle.
1. Paravannam (Kheer)
2. Book - Gaana Kala Bodhini (A book that will make you realize how little you know about music)
3. Turmeric
4. Kumkum
5. Pen
6. Cash - dollars
7. Gold ornaments
8. Prayer book
As you probably have realized, each of the above signify something. I was supposed to crawl and pick one of those. Since I cannot crawl, YET, Amma put me in center of the semi-circle, with all those things within my reach.
Any guesses for what I chose first? Food? Of course not. Have you seen any of us kids interested in food? Turmeric and kumkum. Hmm they are surely colorful. But what will I do with them? :-) Book and Pen? I know that a pen feels quite good in the mouth. And tearing pages in a book surely sounds fun. Dollars? Gold ornaments? Surely sounds great.
Amma put me down in the semi-circle. The people around me were looking at me with anticipation - they surely are expecting great things from me. The tension was mounting in the room. Which one should I pick? Drum roll.....
Considering my new-found interest in 'riches', I narrowed down my choices to the dollars and the gold ornaments. Then I remembered. They stopped accepting dollars even at the Taj Mahal. I decided to bet my fortune on the gold standard. A round of applause went up. People were cheering. There goes my first choice.
The excitement didn't go down. What should I choose next? I was determined to pick the 2nd one carefully. The book was heavy, I could tell that my looking at it. Not only literally, but figuratively too. Should I pick the book and go Amma's way? Become a classical musician? I anyway am going to do that, am I not? So why pick the heavy book when I anyway know I am going to learn music from Amma.
One of my habits is to chew a pen when I am thinking. So, I picked the pen first and started to chew on it. Another round of applause went up. Oh no, looks like I picked my second choice already.
What next? What next? Let me choose something real nice. After second thoughts, well third actually, I picked the prayer book. I thought it would be nice to have God on your side. Also, I thought it would be tasty. And I started chewing on it. Tasted good, really good. You should try it too.
Anyway, thus ended the ceremony. Gold followed by pen followed by prayer book. What do you make out of that? Nanna says I will be a god-loving author who will make a lot of money. Not the weakening dollars, I hope.
What does being teethy mean?
a) Stop being interested in 'teething' toys
b) Sudden interest in anything that moves - like Nanna's fingers, my toes etc
c) Sudden interest in anything that doesn't move - like soiled diapers, TV remote, Nanna's cell phone etc
d) All of the above
e) None of the above
Big prizes are waiting for those with the correct answer. So hurry up. Call 1-800-244-5653 (1-800-BIG-JOKE) with your answers.
Anyway, having seen my new-found interest in putting all things in my mouth... my parents decided that it was time to redirect my attention to food. Solid food. At last. But before I can eat solid food, a ceremony needs to be performed - Annaprasana.
So Amma and Nanna invited their friends (since I don't have any, YET) for this occassion. They also invited a priest to conduct the ceremony. Amma made some Paravannam (kheer?). Nanna took his ring and fed me a ring-full. I hope he cleaned his ring before doing that! Amma soon followed and fed me another ring-full of that sweet ricey thing.
What followed next was more of a tradition than anything religious. Amma put the following things around me in a semi-circle.
1. Paravannam (Kheer)
2. Book - Gaana Kala Bodhini (A book that will make you realize how little you know about music)
3. Turmeric
4. Kumkum
5. Pen
6. Cash - dollars
7. Gold ornaments
8. Prayer book
As you probably have realized, each of the above signify something. I was supposed to crawl and pick one of those. Since I cannot crawl, YET, Amma put me in center of the semi-circle, with all those things within my reach.
Any guesses for what I chose first? Food? Of course not. Have you seen any of us kids interested in food? Turmeric and kumkum. Hmm they are surely colorful. But what will I do with them? :-) Book and Pen? I know that a pen feels quite good in the mouth. And tearing pages in a book surely sounds fun. Dollars? Gold ornaments? Surely sounds great.
Amma put me down in the semi-circle. The people around me were looking at me with anticipation - they surely are expecting great things from me. The tension was mounting in the room. Which one should I pick? Drum roll.....
Considering my new-found interest in 'riches', I narrowed down my choices to the dollars and the gold ornaments. Then I remembered. They stopped accepting dollars even at the Taj Mahal. I decided to bet my fortune on the gold standard. A round of applause went up. People were cheering. There goes my first choice.
The excitement didn't go down. What should I choose next? I was determined to pick the 2nd one carefully. The book was heavy, I could tell that my looking at it. Not only literally, but figuratively too. Should I pick the book and go Amma's way? Become a classical musician? I anyway am going to do that, am I not? So why pick the heavy book when I anyway know I am going to learn music from Amma.
One of my habits is to chew a pen when I am thinking. So, I picked the pen first and started to chew on it. Another round of applause went up. Oh no, looks like I picked my second choice already.
What next? What next? Let me choose something real nice. After second thoughts, well third actually, I picked the prayer book. I thought it would be nice to have God on your side. Also, I thought it would be tasty. And I started chewing on it. Tasted good, really good. You should try it too.
Anyway, thus ended the ceremony. Gold followed by pen followed by prayer book. What do you make out of that? Nanna says I will be a god-loving author who will make a lot of money. Not the weakening dollars, I hope.
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- Souju Doddamma