Upanayanam – Thread Ceremony
The husband and I found ourselves stupendously stumped. You see? We celebrated the son’s thread ceremony. We had managed to get in the middle of organizing and executing a function that smacked of our curious mixture of naïveté and fun.
So much so that a lot of people were very happy, a few people held their tongues with pursed lips and stiff jaws (some even graciously told us that it is indeed what they were doing), and a precious few reveled in their self-glorified role of saying things-as-it-is (any politically savvy person knows what this means. But seeing as Yours Truly is particularly poorly suited to this, took some getting used to).
Summoned like a Woman!
Like all religious functions, this one excluded women, but insisted they were there for all the work. The organizing, the decorating, the gift-giving, the hosting. Just nothing religious. Every time I looked particularly bored on that stage, the priest would give me something to do.
“Take that drop of water, and drip it on the coconut, amma!”
“Hold this bunch of dried grass against the shoulder, amma!”
Then, a chuckle. “Not that shoulder amma, this shoulder!”
While all of these tasks weren’t exactly skillful, they ensured it kept me there. Otherwise, the poor priest found me wandering off the stage to talk to people.
Then, summons were sent. Summoning the lady of the house on stage at a religious function is a curious case study of sonar technology and people movements. Every one calls out for you, and nobody realizes or remembers why I was summoned. Like a wave gathering in intensity before crashing on the shores.
Smiles to go before I sleep!
“How come you are smiling in all the pics, while I…”
“Look like you’re having your tooth extracted?” I finished smugly.
The husband paused to frown and then smiled, “Yes – like that!”
“Easy! I had absolutely nothing to do but smile at people. Also, I looked for the phones and smiled pointedly. There’s a lot of time for not understanding a thing, and being dressed to the nines up there.” I said.
“Talk about unfair – look how I looked in all the pics: confused, concentrating on getting the words right, while you…”
“Pranced and fluttered about the room? There are advantages to being a butterfly.”
So, that is how we survived a thread ceremony, without storm warnings.
Nourish-n-Cherish 
