Our week went by with Senthil holding my hands throughout our tuition time, he refused to let go of my hands and started writing with his left hand. And to my disgust, I became a blushing mess. Why am I blushing while just holding hands is a mystery even to me. I acted like a prude who would faint in maidenly dismay if someone so much as uttered words like "kiss" or "sex."
"I have a present for you," Senthil said and gave me a wrapped bag.
I opened it to find a dhavani. The shirt and blouse were green and the shawl was purple. I liked it immediately.
"When I first saw you in dhavani, my heart nearly stopped. You looked like an angel. I never saw you wear one after that. I hope you like it."
"It looks beautiful, Senthil. Thanks"
I might have looked like an angel to Senthil when I first wore dhavani, but I felt like a pig that day. I have no hatred towards dhavani in general, but the 'Nathu naduthal' occasion was when I was forced to wear it.
"Nathu naduthal" means rice transplantation. Rice is grown in a nursery and transplanted to the actual paddy field. The transplantation is usually done on an auspicious day. The day starts with prayers to the sun (Surya), god of rain (Varun), god of rice (Annapoorni), and the rice saplings and ends with a grand feast with actual rice transplantation in-between.
But that's not the part I hate, each year I was forced to commence the rice transplantation as my grandparents believe I am the Lakshmi (god of money) of our house. Loosely translated, they earned more money than usual after my birth.
I can see you rolling your eyes, I don't hate gardening, trust me. The entire paddy field is transformed into a "Puddle"!
I am not a Peppa Pig and I don't like jumping up and down in muddy puddles. Splish splashing is so not attractive. And what's more the paddy field is considered a god, so you are not allowed to wear any footwear. It's disrespectful to stomp a goddess with sandaled feet, only bare feet would do.
Imagine having to wear a full-length skirt and get inside a puddle, holding a bunch of saplings. You plant each sapling in the puddle. Sometimes if you get unlucky you may meet a crab or a scorpion. On the other end, if you are exceptionally lucky you get to avoid worms.
Ever seen the clichéd heroines of several movies, who attempt to cook and get their face covered in artistically placed flour or syrups? Well I was close, but instead of flour and syrups it's muck and instead of looking beautiful, I looked disgusting. There is no way you can avoid getting muck in your face when you stand knee-deep in the puddle.
Don't ask why Indians don't use modern agricultural tools. If that question arises in your mind, I would invite you to visit Tamil Nadu during the "Ayudha pooja" celebration. Weapons and tools that aid in business and day-to-day activities are worshiped during the Ayudha pooja. There is no way to describe it, look at the image below.
The food in front of the vehicles is an offering. These people know that vehicles run on gasoline, but hey what if they get offended if we don't share our food with them!. It's a pity airport security is tight, or they might have decorated the airplane with garlands.
Ayudha pooja is not limited to vehicles. Want to know how a software company celebrates it, they put garland and offerings in front of mainframes and computers.
Want to know how I celebrate Ayutha pooja. Hey, don't judge, I don't want my Mac to get offended as well. Service charges for Apple devices are costly here.
PS: All the images are from google image search not mine