The Cognitive Model
“What were you two yapping about and giggling about the whole time?” the husband said, peering into a photograph at the upanayanam ceremony.
He might have been short of breath after reciting and repeating endless mantras, but the children & I were short of breath trying to hold in our laughter several times – mainly because we had more time on our hands and little to do while on stage.
“Well – which time? We got into trouble several times with everyone!” I giggled.
“Pick one!”
“Well Fine! I’ll tell you. This is when this fellow said, ‘If ever there was a time to run a cognitive interpretation model and turn the chanting into tonal bits, and then try to get a translated gist, this is it.’ – That was so like him, that I couldn’t stop laughing. And then everybody shushed me!”
The husband gave the son an amused look, and then said, “Was that what he was saying? It sounded like a song!”
“Well – yes, he was singing. What were you singing?”I said, rounding on the son. I remember the whole hall giving me the pursed-lip and furrowed-brow routine, for his lip sync was clearly off from what his father was droning on the other side of me.
“Oh – that!”
“Please don’t tell me you were singing Hamilton!” I said.
“Well – phew! Then I won’t get in trouble. No! I was not singing Hamilton, Amma!”
The Magic Coconut Kingdom
I raised my eyebrows and he said, in a somewhat more abashed tone of voice, “First, I thought the coconut looked funny – like a wizard coconut, with a magic hat. The king of the coconut kingdom!” he puffed his chest out, and his ribs pushed out from under his shirt.
They had decorated that coconut very fancifully. I remember thinking to myself that the coconut looked marvelous. Even without all of this, the coconut is a swell thing, but with some stripes of ash across its face, a huge red dot on its handsome visage, and a silk turban like hat, dashing was the word. #Kalasam
“So, anyway, I imagined the coconut using its magic powers to fight the flames from the fire.. The coconut king, friends with the liquid ghee, used to fan the fire onwards and well – you know how it is, right amma?”
I nodded indeed. The coconut, in combination with the fumes, and the silks on one’s body is fertile ground for fanciful thinking. The chanting in the background can be very soothing for the imagination to pound on.
Epiphanies of Spiritual Visions?
Religious rituals in Hinduism have a curious character – they rely heavily on the men to perform them, but need the women to hover and lend support at all times. The upanayanam ceremony is no different. The son had nothing to do but indulge in his childish dreams for the first hour or so.
I wrote about it briefly here: Upanayanam: Insights into a traditional ceremony
Behind every beautiful moment are hundreds of moments leading up to it. The decorations, the coming together of everything in one swoop, the invites, availability of people and dates, and so much more. For one event to happen, even if the hero/heroine of the event is unaware, it means combined efforts from many people – mostly loved ones.
When finally it all comes together, there is much chatter, excitement, frazzled feelings, tension, drama, joy, laughter. Then, just when you wonder what to make of it all, out of the blue, a moment of rare insight, like peeking into a well, and catching the glimpse of a fish for an instant, appears before you.
If it was the coconut that gave that to the son, so be it.
For me, it was the son’s quip on the cognitive model to apply to the tonal information.
I hope the husband and daughter found that moment too. They must have judging by the looks of surprised happiness the pictures seem to get a glimpse of.
Nourish-n-Cherish 