Some days are worth rememebering for life time while some are not.
The sixty first birth day(as per birth star )which fell today belonged to the former category.
It started well . I consider the day as having started well if i need not have to remind my driver to be present atleast 2-3 times before he actually whispers a feeble "yes" !!.Today he presented himself even when i was contemplating to give him a call .That is indeed a healthy start to a day ..is it not!
The next best thing to happen was my wife becoming ready at the scheduled time before i started loosing my patience in waiting for her!! You may be wondering as to what happened to this guy to loose his patience on such silly grounds when he had put up with her for the last 31 years.Better you ask my son who is known for his punctuality and the inner urge to be a role model in so far as keeping the schedule/dead lines are concerned.
All is well which ends well they say. It is also often quoted that a task well begun is half done.To day happened to prove both points .
Having got up early at 6 am (ON sundays i am particular in following Ravana;s younger brother Kumbakarna in line and spirit)and hence getting up at 6am itself is an occasion to be rewarded. I was rewarded with some very good tiffin (all tiffin items turn out to be excellent or atleast good if you are breaking your fast, after a Purattasi SAturday day long fasting>>hehe no offence meant.The tiffin was really good and consisted of "paramabaria" items , like IDDLY, VADA, PONGAL accompanied by Milagai podi, Chutney and steaming sambar.It is not a sort of Jugal pandhi as is being witnessed nowadays in marriage functions when they keep u serving dozen tiffin items that your appetite is vanquished the moment you see those items!.
And the venue happens to be near Medavakkam where we went to attend the marriage of one of my son's frind's marriage as per his wish..Since she happens to be daughter of one of my bank collegues it is a pleasant surprise for her father to meet me there (with out invitation from his side>>hehe . To make things short and sweet after one of the sumptuous break fast followed by some good coffee, we went to the bride to introduce ourselves as 'SRINI'S parents and the whole kalayana manadapam brightened multi fold by the 1000 watt gleam that flowed from her eyes on recognition of the word Srini.It told volumes of what a good friendship is which can transcend miles and genders.
We then moved to the next important fete of the day,To be present in time at the temple at NANGANALLAUR for kalayana urchavam of Lord RAMA with SEETHA which we have arranged for, to coincide with my shastiapthapoorthy.What better way is there to celebrate it than to celebrate it along with the wedding of God and Godess themselves.The relatives present were far and few as in fact no body has been SPECIFICALLY invited. And as such there were no friends too , for inviting one and missing out on the other will be the last mistake that i would like to commit on this day.
But the small number of those present were full of love and affection making good for the absence of others too.It started with a greeting from my sister's family
in chaste TAmil over cell phone from Bhopal.It was preceded earlier with a phone call and a greeting from my manni/uncle's daughter from USA and another one from my maternal cousin at California.They just proved that distance need not be a limiting factor in conveying one's love and affection. And as it always happens my son's blog
indicated the strong bond of realtionship that we mutually carry and our admiration for each other , SPECIAL THANKS TO ALMIGHTY for such an wonderful and understanding father-son relationship and further prayers to keep it going for ever.
And at the temple the moment we entered my cousin who is in his eighties ( due for celebrating his own sadahbishegam next June )greeted us with a welcome smile and took over from that point of time in guiding us thru the rest of the events to follow.And what followed was a treat to watch and cherish for life time to come. The perfection with which the priests carried out the Kalyana Urchavam, the manner in which the holy mantras were recited, the little pains taken here and then to tell the Bhaktas as to the meaning of the same, and then the whole lot of little things which makes the Hindu Brhmin marriage an eventful experience..such as Oonjal,Malai matral, Pidi sutral, thengai uruttal, and Mangalya tharana.And slowly during the proceedings all my relatives Viz my eldest sister , my sisterin law, my elder sister and her husband,my eldest brother's wife and her son have all assemebled.To make up for the absence of my son who is in Hongkong, my daughter arrived in time with her husband to give me the most needed mental strength.Then the archana to the Seetha Rama commenced as a prelude to MANGALYADARANAM..Along with archana to deiety the undersigned was guided to perfrom the flowery tribute to the Mangalyam which my wife carried from home.It is a practice and custom to have one more mangalyam along with the existing one , during Shastiapthapoorthy. And to the accompaniment of NAYANAM, THAVIL and in COMPANY TO GOD/GODDESS i peformed managalya tharanam to my wife, second time in 31 years.AS my cobrother's daughter was to remark in a lightersence later , the same man, the same woman getting married for the second time in 31 years..and what a diffrence it made to the earlier marriage.No egos, No quarrels, no tensions, no misunderstanding but a thickening bond of love, affection and an effort to be the first to say sorry, i love you etc. The present generation will be able to appreciate the essence of these when they travel down the lane.Life is beautiful indeed!!
WAHT FOLLOWED WAS A good lunch at the sanctum sanctorum, consisiting of Brinjal, ladies finger paruppu sambar, Ladiesfinger more kuzhambu, Brijal poriyal, BANGALORE kathrikkai KOOTTU, pARUPPU VADAI, Rasam (which surprisingly looked like Kuzhambu, tastewise as also appearance wise)Payasam (Reminding me of my son, father, and may father in law who all would have enjoyed it more)and buttermilk.About 300 persons including KALYANA GHOSTI and other devottes would have taken the food.It was a rewarding experience in all.
there were gifts , normal for such occasions..Dhothi and saree with shirts and Jacket bits. Earlier in the day my wife and my sister cum motherin law presented me with a locket (of Lord Srinivasa, a cute one at that to be worn with my chain which i am wearing for the last two decades)and later when the proceedings are to come to an end,my daughter and son in law surprised us with a gift (which they picked up after spending the entire evening in search of one the previous day by getting in and out of half a dozen shops in T,NAGAR, Ranganathan Street and Usman Road..HATS OFF TO THEIR PATIENCE AND TEANCITY ).It was a beautiful peace of Lord Srinivasa made of stones , embedded in a box with mirrors on all sides which comes to sparlkle amidst lights of different colours, Green Red and wHITE at the touch of a button(Blue is missing ofcourse ..not an intent dear) accompanied by dozen tunes of slogas including half a dozen on Lord Venkateswara.
My son in law is known for his eye for beauty and perfection . His choice of my daughter as his life companion and the way in which he celebrated her last birth day on 3rd October would prove that point beyond doubt.(he took 2 hours to decorate one of the bed rooms with flowers, baloons, little dolls and what not , sweating from head to toes to make it a pleasant surpise to my daughter when she is invited into the room to cut her birthday cake..Me and my son, possibly could not even dream of venturing anywhere near such grand preparation..FRIEND SON, I AM INCLUDING YOU or would you be different when u pick up yr right candidate!!
And when he is accompanied by my loving daughter the gift they choose, becomes remarkable and an unforgettable one indeed.
My co brother in his inimitable style came earlier on dot at the time of mangalyadharanam , to present me with a cash cover and drifted apart immediately.His way of saying and showing his love and affection to us.then followed a long distance call from my nephew and his wife in Dubai and another long distance call from my sister and borother in law at Bhopal.It was a lengthy conversation which enabled us to understand each other;s feelings .At the end of it all the realisation that we always carry all the good wishes and blessings of elders and youngsters alike makes it an whole some experience.
I would have been glad to have it celebrated in the presence of all my cousin brothers and sisters who when they come to know of the event, rightly are going to pick up a wordy duel with me.In particular i would have loved to have my cousin from Chrompet.Similarly all my friends and collegues, had they known about the function would have come in large numbers to greet.It was not to be for reasons steted in my earlier post. I crave for their undertanding and am sure they will understand and appreciate.
As i conclude i am reminded of the tele tlak that i had with my siter in Bhopal, when i tild her that i am having an inner feeling that some thing more precious and something more of a grand function awaits us all to meet and celebrate and that it may happen sooner than later.I said it with out effort as if i was possessed.And now my inner conscience says that there is going to be another ocasion of grandeur and splendour, when it will be the time for all of us to meet and rejoice and make good for all the moments so far allowed to by pass.
For every grand thing thre must be a Thrusti pariharam. The pwer cuts which were far and few had already visited thrice in the span of last 40 minutes which it took me to create this post. Oh, that is nice.Now the thrusti is gone, poye pocchu, chalegachi.
Loving wishes to one and all
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