Bengali

📸 – Shekhar Jajodia

“She can move darkness”

Most important part of the year for a Bengali has arrived. Oh great Mother, we welcome you on this earth whole heartedly. May your arrival destroy all the negativity around us.

📸 – Shekhar Jajodia

For me, the feeling of Durga Puja is incomparable to any other time of the year. It’s a 10 day long celebration filled with delicious food, new clothes (hello, new saris!), aartis and pujas, and being surrounded by your family and friends. Can’t wait to immerse myself into the Godly embrace 🙏🏻 (Excitement creeping in ❤️😁)

📸 – Shekhar Jajodia

Let’s proceed with the assumption that you know what Durga Puja is about. For those who have no clue, it’s the worship of the Hindu Goddess Durga and her children, whose idols are hosted in the makeshift Pandals for around five days. Let’s proceed..

Article Courtesy: Timesofindia Indiatimes Blogs

It won’t be entirely an exaggeration to say that Bengalis world over spend a significant amount of their time planning and deciding what to do during the Durga Pujas. Most of them wear multiple sets of clothes – mind you, there’s a morning outfit and an evening outfit, plus emergency backup outfits. And of course, there are important decisions to make – like what to eat on which day. From the warm khichudi, papad bhaja as bhog in pandals to the street stalls set up to serve delectable dishes like egg rolls, kobiraji and mughlai parota, you are game to feast on anything and everything.

So prior to the pujas, the air is absolutely thick with a feeling one gets just before the starting, the unravelling of something extremely huge — the feeling you get just before reaching the peak of a much awaited climax.

You will get to see sweaty Bongs, who under the twelve o’clock sun, sits in an auto patiently stuck in a huge traffic jam in the heart of a buzz-filled street, clutching onto innumerable bulging shopping bags of different shapes and sizes. This is called Puja shopping.

It is a reverberating rhythm which amplifies and resounds in the sounds of the dhak. It’s a feeling. You can not only hear it, but feel it — you get goose bumps when the dhakis first begin to play their beat. The city reverberates with the echo of conch shells, which is no less than a divine feeling.

Durga Puja is actually, the celebration of ‘life’ and the joy of ‘living’ more than anything else. Durga Puja becomes an expression of the city itself. It is almost that the city bursts into laughter during these few days.

Durga Puja 2017, Bahrain

Source: Instagram

I look forward to celebrating Durga Puja with you.

Till then, in the words of my great grandmother, Dugga Dugga.

Stressing out on what you should prepare for baby’s Annaprashan? Don’t sweat it, mum. From the ceremony to the menu, my tips will help get you through.

The Annaprashan Menu

In Bengal it is a tradition to feed a baby his/her first grain of rice around 6 months before the tooth shows..it is an initiation into solid foods. There is however a rule, it is performed during the even months for boys, generally in the child’s sixth or the eighth month. For girls, it is performed during the odd months, usually fifth or the seventh month, so we performed our daughter Aarvi’s on her fifth month. I have been curious why this is followed in different months..do the food pipes differ for girls and boys..anyways it doesn’t matter..the rice eating ceremony is just a custom and is quite cute.

The Annaprashan cake

The rice eating ceremony is called “Annaprashan” or “Mukhebhaat” in Bangla meaning “entry of grain” and “rice in mouth” respectively.

Paa feeding Aarvi her first grain of rice

Traditionally this ceremony is carried out in the child’s paternal home where the maternal uncle is invited to feed the child his/her first grain of rice. In our case, we were living abroad, so we had to do it without the uncle and her father had to play the role of her uncle in feeding her.

The morning Puja

The morning started off with Puja to seek the blessings of God and to mark the beginning of the auspicious day.

The spa bath included milk, rose petals, leaves and cucumber

We had also arranged a spa bath for her. She had an awesome first spa bath experience, she seemed to have enjoyed the process very much.

All decked out for the vidhi

Followed by the spa bath, she was dressed in traditional attire which was followed by the symbolic feeding of the rice pudding (kheer/payash) that was prepared by her father. This vidhi was then followed by a grand feast and cake cutting ceremony.

The Annaprashan feast may include a variety of items, but the sweetened rice pudding (payash/kheer) is the star dish.

The mandatory rice pudding (payash/kheer)

Apart from the kheer, salad, fried vegetables (potato, brinjal, bitter guard), dals, curries and flavored rice were some of the food items served. I included chicken, prawns, raaita (yoghurt mixed with spices and fruits), tomato sweet and sour chutney, sweets, dates, dry fruits, Belgian chocolates on the menu.

The religious feast was then followed by a fun game where a number of symbolic objects were placed on a plate which she had to pick up. The objects included:

1. Books symbolizing learning.

2. A pen symbolizing wisdom.

3. Money/Jewels symbolizing wealth.

4. Clay symbolizing land/property.

5. Knife symbolizing dignity of a king.

The Annaprashan game plate

It is believed that the object a baby picks up from the plate represents his/her area of interest in future. In our case, she picked the book and pen at the same time with both her hands.

With so much to arrange and a little baby to take care of, here are some handy and delightful tips for a hassle-free event:

-Send a colourful, well-worded invite with your baby’s picture to all the guests.

-Plan ahead of the event. Select your child’s traditional outfit, call the priest and arrange for the puja articles much in advance.

-Arrange for adequate space and decorations in your house or at the banquet hall for the guests.

-Make sure your baby is well rested before the ceremony. Carry a stocked up diaper bag if the venue of the event is not home.

-Keep few familiar toys handy to distract the baby if he gets overwhelmed by the crowd.

-Ensure the fabric of your baby’s outfit does not discomfort her. If you are planning to use any jewellery on your baby, make sure it doesn’t hurt him/her.

-Share your plans in detail with your spouse or a family member. In case you disappear to feed your baby or calm her down, someone can take over the show!

-Hire a photographer or take charge to capture all the precious moments of your baby’s big day.

Maa and Aarvi’s precious and memorable moment

Whether conducted on a big or small scale, any parent would love to make their child’s Annaprashan ceremony memorable. So go ahead, make this occasion of your baby’s life, a momentous one.

If you have any insights, questions or comments regarding the Annaprashan ceremony, please share them in the Comment box below.

Photography By Sanchali

Durga Puja – Rio Carnival of the East

Her First Grain of Rice