The past two days raks and I have been busy with lot of activities. The first being, what to wear for the Varalakshmi Vrata puja. While I tried to get her interested in a salwar kameeze she had already packed the peacock hued silk blouse and skirt that she had been itching to wear for a while.
We hurriedly left for the puja for my uncle's house in the morning. And due to time constraints that involved searching for raks's blouse and skirt (which she hid behind the TV for safekeeping btw) we set out, with me barely tucking the sari and she in a frock that didn't meet with her approval.
I tried to convince her that I will change her dress as soon as we arrive but she gave me the icy cold shoulder all the way.
The puja had started with the priest chanting mantras from the laptop while I feverishly readied raks. She sat down for precisely five minutes and then went off exploring. I closed my eyes and tried to pray to Varalakshmi.
"Oh! Goddess. Please bless us this year...."
Just then my mobile buzzed. It was a watsupp message from my cousin sitting behind me. He had sent a picture of raks trying to simulate the 'moping of the floor' (her favourite activity) using an upturned walking stick.
No distractions... Let me pray to the Goddess for some wealth (that I really need), health and well-being.
"Oh! Goddess. Please grant us..."
My mobile buzzed again. It was a message from Tambrahm page asking us to post Varalakshmi pictures for a contest. And I wondered how soon I could take a photo and post it.
No! No! Let me concentrate on the puja
Soon it was time to tie the 'thoram'. We searched for raks who was hiding behind the sofa to surprise her aunt (my sister) who had arrived late. Amidst much flashing cameras, iphones, androids and ipads, we all tied the thoram and then got busy posting the pictures.
The story-telling session was always my favourite but I missed half of it because raks was busy trying to shove her legs into my uncle's thick boots. By the time, I rejoined the pooja, Charumathi had finished the vrata and had reaped the benefits too.
Lunch was not a prolonged affair because Raks was 'hungry' for a change and did not take ages to finish. Finally it was time for an afternoon siesta. But my cousin said that he had a collection of horror movies and we all had an eerie curiosity to watch it. So I tried to put raks to sleep but my aunt took over and sent me off to watch the movie.
While we huddled on the couch trying to adjust where to put the head and the leg on, the movie started amidst much chatter and giggles. We chattered on jokingly, trying to guess who the 'mama' was and were interrupted by two things.
Raks had successfully put my aunt to sleep and had joined us for the movie. She jumped on the overcrowded couch and tried to sleep on us.
The second thing was the large mouthed cavernous yawns that she circulated around us prompting us to yawn along with her. Soon we lost interest in 'mama' and lay down to sleep...
We hurriedly left for the puja for my uncle's house in the morning. And due to time constraints that involved searching for raks's blouse and skirt (which she hid behind the TV for safekeeping btw) we set out, with me barely tucking the sari and she in a frock that didn't meet with her approval.
I tried to convince her that I will change her dress as soon as we arrive but she gave me the icy cold shoulder all the way.
The puja had started with the priest chanting mantras from the laptop while I feverishly readied raks. She sat down for precisely five minutes and then went off exploring. I closed my eyes and tried to pray to Varalakshmi.
"Oh! Goddess. Please bless us this year...."
Just then my mobile buzzed. It was a watsupp message from my cousin sitting behind me. He had sent a picture of raks trying to simulate the 'moping of the floor' (her favourite activity) using an upturned walking stick.
No distractions... Let me pray to the Goddess for some wealth (that I really need), health and well-being.
"Oh! Goddess. Please grant us..."
My mobile buzzed again. It was a message from Tambrahm page asking us to post Varalakshmi pictures for a contest. And I wondered how soon I could take a photo and post it.
No! No! Let me concentrate on the puja
Soon it was time to tie the 'thoram'. We searched for raks who was hiding behind the sofa to surprise her aunt (my sister) who had arrived late. Amidst much flashing cameras, iphones, androids and ipads, we all tied the thoram and then got busy posting the pictures.
The story-telling session was always my favourite but I missed half of it because raks was busy trying to shove her legs into my uncle's thick boots. By the time, I rejoined the pooja, Charumathi had finished the vrata and had reaped the benefits too.
Lunch was not a prolonged affair because Raks was 'hungry' for a change and did not take ages to finish. Finally it was time for an afternoon siesta. But my cousin said that he had a collection of horror movies and we all had an eerie curiosity to watch it. So I tried to put raks to sleep but my aunt took over and sent me off to watch the movie.
While we huddled on the couch trying to adjust where to put the head and the leg on, the movie started amidst much chatter and giggles. We chattered on jokingly, trying to guess who the 'mama' was and were interrupted by two things.
Raks had successfully put my aunt to sleep and had joined us for the movie. She jumped on the overcrowded couch and tried to sleep on us.
The second thing was the large mouthed cavernous yawns that she circulated around us prompting us to yawn along with her. Soon we lost interest in 'mama' and lay down to sleep...
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