Marvellous Month

 Shravan is here. A marvellous month indeed it is. Serene nature is at its beautiful most. Green in all its possible shades seems to be overflowing everywhere. The slightly greyish skies, with the clouds having poured  their full fill,  sport a cotton white cloud floating hither and thither. The nesting birds chirp endlessly, with their mating calls as a live symphony. Buds bloom. There is an exultation in the very air.

Despite the quite crazy rains this year and the usual mad monsoon sagas that annually follow in the wake of monsoon, the skies, too, seemed to realise this morning that Shravan is here. There was a gentle golden sunshine this morning.

 Indeed unique is Shravan. It encloses both, fasts and feasts.  Quite countless they are. Aai-Papa used to keep the Shravan Somwar fast in a special way. Actually, given Sanju's Monday birth, all Mondays were sacred for them both. Yet the Shravan fast used to be  special still.

 The typical Maharashtrian Sabudana/sago khichdi, which was Aai's special (it never would be soggy, and at the bottom of the kadai/the pan, there used to be a fragile and fabulously tasty crust), the unbelievably tasty groundnut chutney with curds, the fruits, the special cucumber salad, the nicely cut lemon slice, the Shiva devotee in me used to feel absolutely content. The day would end with a sweet. Aai was such a good 'chef' that even the simple banana mix would taste divinely delicious.

Thus would follow an endless series of fasts and feasts. Aai was excellent at all the traditional dishes, the 'kadabu' for Nagpanchami, the melting in the mouth 'puran poli' for Shrawan Shukrwar, the 'Narali bhat' for Narali Pournima, and so on, and so on. Why, the beans veggie she prepared, the radish salad she made, the 'puran poli' special 'kata chi amti', taste seemed to flow from her fingers. 

Actually I do not much like milk. But the special milk with cardamom seeds, perfectly blended with the right amount of sugar, and a flake or two of 'keshar'/safron that she prepared for  the Shravan Shukrawar haldi-kunku used to be divine. The 'futane' as 'prasad' used to make the evening fabulous.

What I marvel at is the fact that never ever would our school timings be delayed. Nor would Papa face a late mark. Everything the perfect way, on the dot of time! Sure it must have been horribly hard work for her. Yet she mustered the inner strength to celebrate each Shravana the best possible way. 

Neither of them believed in excessive religiosity. Yet they celebrated each festival in a contented way to make us culturally  enriched. I still remember each of these simple but meaningful rituals that feted our perceptions, be it visual (with her lovely rangoli's), be it the fragrance of the perfect pooja Papa (and later Aai as per the special day) would embellish the 'devhara' with, be it the surfeit of the taste buds, the marvellous month of Shravan was a great occasion for our parents to make our childhood magical.

Pratima@The end of Ashadha this year was marked by the umpteen tragedies due to cloud bursts, the worst being the Waynad landslide. Hope the advent of Shrawan provides the much needed succour.