It was the Shravan Amavasya on Thursday/Friday. Hardly do we remember the first or the last days of lunar months, as way too busy we are with the solar months, full of responsibilities, duties, activities, and what not.
My submission, however, is that better it is to remember certain such 'muhurt'. Oh, yes, i do know that some people may accuse me of being traditional, obscurantist, 'sanghi', et al. I am neither. Not do I care about empty accusations. Some may ask how I dare call 'amavasya' a muhurt.
Better to hold your horses, please! Yes, most often, 'amavasya' is not considered auspicious. Yet, without getting obscurantist, it is better to observe certain rituals as they make us truly human(e).
Look at the Shravan Amavasya, for instance. It is the best occasion to show our gratitude to the bullock. This beast of burden, so very necessary for our existence, is no longer extant even in agriculture, given the technological onslaught.
When we were small, on this day, Papa used to buy us a pair of earthen toy bullocks. We were made to garland them, pray to them. Aai would make puran poli, the last of the Shravan season.
What a lovely way to stay tuned to the originary modes of life! A great tribute to the agrarian roots as well as to the barter mode of existence, as the village potter would thus get his share of the goodies, too! In brief, certain rites make us right.
Pratima@The second reason is still more sensitive. Shravan Amavasya is the Mothers' Day according to the Hindu calendar. A mother must be celebrated as often as is possible, right? So why not twice a year, in May and on the last day of Shravan during which the "jivti" picture in the "devhara" repeatedly reminds us of her centrality!
Let us celebrate such Amavasya rituals, like the last day of Ashadh, a tribute to light which must have literally illuminated the rainy dark days once upon a time long long ago.
Quote of the day: "Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." Agreed, Melody Beattie.
Word of the day: gratitude Gratitude is the feeling of being grateful to, of wishing to thank someone.
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