Weekend Diaries

Yesterday it was my great-grandmum’s death anniversary, so as per our tradition we perform certain rituals to appease the gods , as a mark of respect. So a sub-contracted rice-devouring, pot-bellied, dwarf-like holy-man arrives with his cloth bag filled with his tools(a holy-water jar, a plate, fruits, flowers, tulsi leaves etc).He then performs a modified, short-cut version( much to my grandad’s irritation) of the normal ‘pooja’(worship ceremony) after which we are offered some holy-water, flowers & ‘prasad’. Then we offer two-plates of food prepared one to a cow & other to a crow as they represent an incarnation of our ancestors. Now after the rituals are complete d we begin with our colorful sumptuous lunch consisting of jackfruit-curry, some yellowish gravy, rice, various roasted vegetables, idlis & chutney, desert served on contrasting bright green banana leaves. In the middle much to the annoyance of the servers the Pandit kept giving unnecessary instructions & orders with a tone layered with I-am-a-god’s man-superiority attitude. Anyway we enjoyed a healthy satisfying meal…..

Today on the other hand was a regular Sunday spent in the company of a friend window-shopping at a mall trying out everything from shoes to clothes, visited a huge bookstore looking for interesting new arrivals, one thing I like to do sometimes when I am in this generous mood is return home with small presents for my sisters & parents, it feels sort of like Santa Claus. So after working up an appetite, walking for almost 3 hours we decide to head to a place known for authentic Mexican food where we were welcomed & served by friendly warm people. We relished our virgin watermelon, kiwi mojitos, nachos with chilly beans & some spicy Mexican rice smothered with melted cheese, cottage cheese & mashed potatoes….yummy.

So that was the story of my weekend - one day was spent as a traditional religious Indian & the other as a regular modern city-bred consumerist.