Shubham Karoti

I've been letting my blog languish, trying to get a suitable idea to pen down here for a while now. Tee has given me some inspiration here. She's unlocked memories with her lovely Laal Bhoplyachi Kheer recipe, and given the opening to this post. Owe you one Tee!

Tee's kheer is very strongly reminiscent of my paternal Ajji. And though this post has nothing to do with food, it does have something to do with my Ajji's influence on me.

It was usually my grandmother who did the disciplining. Self-appointed guru, imparting the 'necessary' vidya to keep the family righteous at all times. Instilling the values that any child of a brahmin family should not breathe without. The shlokas, the vedic rituals, the traditions that are now a lineage. The proud inheritance of religious knowledge and the beliefs stemming from it.

My grandfather was more indulgent. He told us stories from the 'Sampurna Chaturmaas' - a guide to all imperative Marathi rituals, some even broken down month by month. To him, entertainment was the necessary sugar that made the medicine of tradition go down. He tried to make everything as interesting and participatory as possible. And that meant stringing hand-picked flowers into a garland, or decorating the Ganpati stand, or even completing the stories we had heard so often, they were a part of our conscious.

But discipline can't be written off. It was what made us join our hands (in a then perfunctory, restless) namaskar to God before running away to school. Or what made us wash our feet unquestioningly in the evening - belligerent from being called away from a long muddy play session - and join in the small four-lined Shubham karoti when the lamp was lit. But it was also what gave me the comfort of knowing my faith was not in vain.

And today, I recognise it for what it is - a routine that gives me peace. A faith that keeps me positive. Superstitious, you say? You bet! I admit to it. As easily as I close my eyes tight to ask God for help, I have learned to thank Him for every day. Just as my grandmother taught me to. I love the glow of the flickering samai as I light it every evening, and automatically, my hands join in a namaskar to mouth lines that, now, no one has to remind me to say. I can see Ajji nodding in approval all the way across the seas :)

Nope, won't get too religious and preachy on you today. Just the arrival of my favourite houseguest for 10 days that's made me go into this mood. And that gorgeous creamy kheer from Tee. Ummmm.