Sindhi thadRi, Janmashtami, Rituals & Faith

Pic Courtesy: Barkha, my unbelievably talented sister (touch wood)- The thadRi platter... miTThi Tikki (like biscuits), 'SooRhi', 'Aaloo takk', 'Bhindi', Onion pickle, 'dahi baRa', 'Roat', daal ka paraTha and 'achaar'.

We used to love having all the items that our mother made for ‘thadRi’... I had gradually stopped believing in rituals and started receiving this reply, “असां त कडी कोन पुछो से!”/ “We never questioned!”... From being a person who never spoke, to a child who put effort into devising all sorts of logic to refute acts of blind faith, I had begun making inroads into her belief system... Slowly, she must have understood I am lazy too, but more than that we came to a mutual respect zone, where she knew I would help her cook it all and she had become broad-minded enough to allow me in the kitchen after simply a bath even on the first day of the period.

Sindhis are known to be smart, (euphemistically speaking) but our elders were wise too. Apart from the scientific reasons for fasting and such, these people had made ”नयाणी”/ “कन्या”/’girl child’ an important deal, a pillar of the common man’s day-to-day ‘dhaarmik’ life... There is a process called ‘handay’/ हंदय .... On various occasions, my mother (as the ‘bahu’ of the household) would take out food and fruits in the name of the ancestors and give it to us the daughters (the role of the Brahmin was reduced as much as possible)... And the boys of the house were not supposed to touch this food or any sacred gifts! My mother was a stickler for these practices. When we were in joint family, they would never have heard her voice, but later, even Papa was jolted by an urgent shout as he picked up any fruit accidentally from our ‘thaal’... My little brother, the apple of her eye, would almost invariably get asked, “kahaan se liya?”/ “Where did you take that from?”

Vivek, till date, asks before eating anything... I have to remind him what is in the fridge, before leaving home, so he has an idea that he can help himself to food when he’s hungry...

But I digress, another thing with ‘handay’ was that it is not to be wasted and my mom generally operated out of abundance and immense respect for rituals so she took a lot of food out for ‘handay’ and Barkha and I could not finish it, especially during a few consecutive days of ‘shraadh’ when the Brahmin was not invited, so the extra food was either given out to the help for their daughters, if they too were not available then it was sent for the cow.

On one such occasion, I happened to accompany Mommy, in Lucknow. The car had just turned from the building’s exit and I spotted a cow at the side and pointed out, ‘wohi toh hai! Yahin de dein!’/ There it is! Let’s give it here only!” Mother said, “Chari aa’n chha!/ are you crazy?” I said “Ghar ke paas ki gaay ko nahin khila sakte hain?”/“Why what’s wrong? Just because it’s close to our house we won’t feed it?” Mommy said, again, while the driver resumed driving after a beat...  “Chari aa chaa! Eehya gaany lagayi ti?”/ Are you mad? Does that look like a cow to you?” I still could not understand... She continued in a softer tone, “alaay kiyan tahaan khe patoyi na paindo tav”/ God knows how, you guys can’t understand”. Just then as we waited at the signal, the animal crossed the road in front of us. It was a bull.

So, I am very thankful for my upbringing. 

Here’s an old photo of how mainly Barkha would help decorate the ‘jhaanki’ and Mommy would celebrate the birthing of Lord Krishna every year. Happy Janmashtami, everyone.

How Do People Make 'Kochu Paata'

Arbi patta/ Kochu Paata/PaathroDe Paan/ Taro Leaf. Pic. Courtesy: Dinesh Dhenoy, who has no idea what I'm using it for

(Sharing an old note)

I recently saw ‘arbi paata’ being sold at Hyper city.
It reminded me of – ‘Lokkhon, Lokkhon! Kotha chhile eto khon? ’
‘Giya chilaam kochu bone, H____baar jonne’ 
‘Ta H___ P___ niye eshe chho Raamer doaare!!??’

‘na na, ghoshe eshe chhee kochu paata diye’
‘Kochu paata diye! P___ choolkaacchhe na?’
‘na, mekhe eshe chhee Boroline Antiseptic cream’

I let the kochu paata be, and bought Kochu instead. We boil, cut, deep fry kochu with salt and turmeric. After it becomes crisp, sprinkle red chilli as per taste. It is a rare indulgence, so this time around I got a bit more than required and let a little bit remain uncooked. Thinking of making the process simpler, I decided to make this in a rarely used process, by not boiling, simply peeling, cutting and frying in little oil with a lid.

Soon enough though, I realized why I had made it in this manner only once when I was very young. My hands began choolkaaoing (itching & burning) so bad!! And I did not have boroline!! Applying Shorshe tel (Mustard oil) and washing hands aplenty, calmed the irritation after a while. Thank God!

The point is, one must remember ‘The Law of Attraction’… Forget about what you do not want; instead, focus on what you do want! :)

Cheers!:)