Random experiences from Navarathiri season

Its that time of the year when the dolls come out of their year long hibernation. Like little silk worms breaking out of their cocoons, the little dolls and some big ones too are opened by removing layers of clothes, paper and other assorted items used to package them. Some are old, some new in shiny plastic covers,some have theire noses broken, some badly need a coat of paint but they are all there. The kolu-padi comes out and the dolls neatly get arranged on them, reminding me of school prayer...

So what have I been doing this kolu season?I have been hosting it. MIL makes sundal and i have been devouring it.

(i) Little Sriram came to our kolu. He doesn't have any fascination for dolls and prefers to either run outdoors or if you force him to stay, he prefers to take the dolls...
He says "dubol"" before dropping things, as if in a warning. So the moment , he says dubol, we have to run and rescue the poor little Kolu Bommai. It was fun nevertheless.

He has learnt to speak so much. He says "Chithi" and now calls my husband "Chithappa" too....And repeats every word one says, without knowing the meaning.. I can go on and on about the little fellow...but to summarise it all he is turning out to be one smart cute little fellow.

(ii) Some people take such extreme interest in Kolu and proudly show off fabulous kolus. Some of them have it plain but make up for it with great conversations and even better tasting snack. It isn't always Sundal, there are many many snacks out there.. and i loved them all

(iii)Being Pregnant makes life so much more easier. It gives you something to say, the ice-breaker, the conversation starter.... And i get to listen to all these great advices, as to what is good for my health and what will make my baby fairer.... In one of the houses, the kind old lady placed flowers on my hair wishing me an early seemantham, she didn't know I was pregnant already, so much for societal pressure........

In fact, as part of the wedding ritual, we have to seek blessing from all elders by falling at their feet and guess what they have to bless us..
"Seekrameva santhaana praaptharasthu" or something to the effect of "have children soon"....

(iv) Going to kolus and returning back, we never come empty handed. Our hands are full with blouse bits and cocunuts, little plastic dabbas, ever-silver vessels, sundal packets, and what not....yesterday i even managed to get home a silver kunkuma chimizh..made my brother-in-law comment that i should go everyday, all nine days..

(v)Being pregnant brings with it a lot of privileges. i now come by van to office, not the rickety bus or the share-auto going bumble-bumble on rocky road-less road. And my van has a bunch of enterprising women. So one of them invited all of us to her home for kolu. So we all, around 15 i guess, went to her home and she had a gorgeous kolu....it was a perfect evening, what with great food served and great music too...

They sang some tamil devotional songs that i really liked and i enjoyed. I was glad i was exposing the little one within me to all this music. Some women asked me to sing, but the last time i sang was in the bathroom yesterday with the doors locked and the nearest human presence atleat 15 mins away
:)

So i was thinkiing to myself, that if i have a girl, i would like her to learn music...
:)

We even had an Ayudha Pooja for our van. The driver broke the drishti-poosinikka and everyone prayed for long life for the van...

(vi) Ofcourse, my Parents have this one year deal along with the wedding where they have to keep giving me stuff for every occasion. And this time they bought us new kolu dolls. Beautiful dolls. There was a kalyana set that i loved.

We have serial lights in our home that makes our humble kolu, all the more beautiful... and we have all the pulses, rics and other stuff placed before the chettiar-chettichi and some creature, i am guessing squirrel, breaks into the house and eats up one variety of pulse and doesn't touch rice.... and remembers to scratch my johnson's baby soap before escaping out

So it has been a fun week for me...still some more fun left as i have to visit a few of my husband's side relatives....