Pandigai Naal...festival Day...normal Day

Thank you, Kamala mam Even if everyone keeps saying things in India are not the same anymore, I still feel the atmosphere of a whole bunch of people collectively celebrating something is just completely different. I often feel sad that my kids don't get to experience this.

 

@Shanvy thank you for this reassurance. That is the hope that keeps me going. I completely agree, the question of what we're running after pops up so often in my mind, especially as I grow older and see my daughters shaping into these individuals with a mind of their own! Especially when there's family functions and rituals that I am not able to be part of sends me spiraling me down this endless path of questioning everything we have here, living away from home!! I am yet to reconcile to the fact that for my kids, this is home!

 

Thank you for the reassurance. That is truly my hoope

 

Viji maami, thank you so much!! Yes, the peace of mind I get from celebrating these is immense.

 

Thank you

Amen to that!!

 

@Cheeniya sir, thank you so much for your kind words. And yes, I agree that everyone should listen to this Aarthi. This song and the other songs from the Aarti Ganpatichi cassette has been such a constant in my childhood. I have nothing but pleasant memories that flood my mind when I listen to them.

And agree, Ganesha is such a low-maintenance umaachi... even the first slokam we teach the kids tends to be shuklam Baradaram or Gajananam or Mooshika Vaahana, probably because kids can easily pronounce the words?

 

jayasala madam, please do not call me madam. I am probably your daughter's age

Yes, Chennai and especially my adda - Mylapore - even on non-festival days holds such a charm that I can't find anywhere else in the world. I remember how we would cruise aroud the mada streets to buy the maavilai, the vazhai thandu thoranam, those purple-grey flowers, arugam pullu and to watch the vendors carry around a long stick with the kodais (umbrellas) stuck on them!! I remember when our economic status as children changed from when we could buy the fancy plastic plate kodais from teh paper kodais. We felts so special that year, that we had a fancy plastic plate umbrell with all the chamkis and others things dangling from it.

Aah, how I miss my dear Mylapore :-(

I think these festivals has good memories for everyone!

 

coolmum, thanks for your comment I was happy too, that it occurred to her naturally. That simple gesture really did mean a lot to me.

 

This is exactly what my mom keeps telling me, when I express my frustrations of child rearing to her. She keeps advocating detached attachment, and that is such a difficult state to attain, but I think the best state to be in

 

Thank you, @Laks09 I am so glad your daughter got to experience the joy of a festival first hand. Agree, I think the acceptance that kids will do what they can how they can is important.

It's just that celebrating these festivals in India as kids, I have such happy memories associated with them that I feel my kids are missing out on being able to create those kinds of memories. I guess I should accept that what I am doing is no less, it is still creating happy memories for them, but just of a different kind.