Nostalgia

Reading about the Navaratri and Deepavali of 'Those days' sent me on a nostalgic trip. With no time to even put down my response, is it any wonder that we yearn for those relaxed times and pace of life! But when (and IF) we stop to think how the time goes, we feel we have not been really doing anything - so what is it that make us go around like mad?
For Navaratri or cradle ceremony as athai-s came for delivery, I had to go to all the houses in K Nagar and invite them. In many houses I would be forced to sing at least one song! And then in our house when people came, we in turn asked them to sing. Jangamma would position herself behind the hall/dining room door, so she could listen and also have a hearty laugh. But we in front of the singer had a very difficult time suppressing our laughter. We would run inside and burst out, then come ut trying to put on a straight face!
Well, I came a long way by the time I was in Bombay and had to judge competitions -succeeded in keeping a blank look while all the singing by the aspirants was going on!
Deepavali - yes, appa would buy the crackers and we would sit in a row in front of thatha and appa would distribute the crackers. What great value each single rocket or flower pot had! Our mental planning about which one we would burst first started days ahead. And when Deepavali was over, the thrill was still there, & we were so happy, and the long wait for the next Deepavali started!
Applying kumkum on the new clothes was an elaborate affair - we would take all the sets to thatha. Thatha showed so much interest and care- spent time with each one, felt the material, enquired about pavadai, chattai etc. Made us feel so special and important. Because all these small things mattered and were important for us.
Vidya, I have not completed writing the full story of the trip. But hope you saw the photos. If you missed the post in our Yahoogroup mail, it is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gaya3sun
You can also see photos of the kolu and Savitri chitti's grand daughter Sumitra's wedding.