Shravan is the month of all sorts of religious practices. One such practice Aai-Papa followed most sincerely was the Monday fast. Both of them kept it the whole day. To break it in the evening, Aai used to make wonderful sweets. Many Maharashtrian GenZ types may not even know (the names of) most of these.
Aai used to also prepare a special 'raita'. Simple recipe but fabulous it used to taste. Grated radish, slightly tangy curd, a pinch of salt and a spoonful of sugar. She did not even need coriander leaves to add to its unique taste.
They say, some people, like my brother, Sanju, are born with a "green thumb". Similarly, very very rarely, some women are born with "taste-maker fingers." Aai was a gold, silver, mention any, medal, winner amongst such gems, and forever!
On the Nag Panchami Day are prepared "kadabu", patties made of "puran". Yours Truly is rather an expert at this recipe because it is the easiest to make, unlike the "puran poli." Yet again, Aai's "puran poli" literally used to melt in the mouth, and you did not require dollops of ghee or cups of warm milk to down them.
The beans veggie she made during Shrawan, her other special "raitas" (why, she could manage a great chutney out of the green threads that would emerge as you shell a tender ridge gourd before cutting it in to pieces), the papad-kurdaya, and all such savouries she would have made during the summer, not to forget her simply wow pickles, her Shravan special dishes still tickle my taste buds! Ah, to eat Aai's dishes during Shravan! Sheer ambrosia!
Pratima@ Except at the town Battis Shirale, everywhere else, there is a legal prohibition against unlicensed snake-charmers, as the practice leads to many superstitions, not to forget violence against the cobras. Yet interesting it is to decode the nine naga's and their traditional significance in a contemporary way. Will try to understand n write about the mythology by-n-by, as related to it is the yogic concept of kundalini!
Quote of the day: "The serpent god reminds us that life is a balance between power and peace.” Such is the traditional faith.
Word of the day: Nag Panchami Nag Panchami is a traditional Hindu festival dedicated to the worship of the snake as a deity. Celebrated on the fifth day (Panchami) of the first fortnight of the lunar month of Shravana (July–August), devotees worship idols, or paintings of snakes (Aai used to draw with sandalwood paste the Nag Devata) to seek protection from snakebites, to augur family welfare, and to honor and be in a balanced companionship with nature. Unmistakable is the agrarian economy echoes as snakes eat rodents of all types.
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