Ishi had her mukhe-bhaat / annaprashan/ first rice ceremony today (March 27, 2011). It is the ceremony after which a baby is allowed to eat food grains.
Her dida and dadu hosted the ceremony and party at their house in Netaji Nagar. Her dada and dadi came specially for the occasion. The date was fixed much in advance for March 27. It had to be in her fifth month and on a Sunday so that friends and family could join us in the happy occasion. Also, it was preferable to have it before Navratri, which starts from the first week of April.
With the date set well in advance, all of us had time for our preparations. Dida booked Bijoli Grill caterers and went over menus. Mommy and Daddy went shopping and got Ishi a beautiful white fairy dress with red flowers on the bodice. Then just before D-day, we went to the locker to take out a silver set for her, my old tiara (from my annaprashan) and her silver diya (given by Dida). Her dida meanwhile, got the backyard cleaned and her maashi supervised the shamianas.
On the day of her annaprashan, the venue was decked out in beautiful flowers; bouquets and arrangements of roses, lilies, rajnigandhas, dahlias; and wonderfully festive marigold chains. The front verandah was the puja room, redolent with the scent of roses, lilies and rajnigandha. The florist also made a beautiful flower mukut, flute and payals for her. The backyard was covered seating with lovely flower arrangements adding to the decor. Her dida also made the ceremonial payesh. We brought the puja material. We reached their house at about 11:30 am.
Ishi was dressed into her annaprashan finery, but the synthetic in the fancy dress wasn't much to her liking. Still she bore it all with some forbearance! A fairy dress, silver bangles clinking with black nazariyas on her wrists, flower mukut and payals, and a pretty flower garland. To this her doting grandparents added a gold chain each, one with design, another with a 'S' diamond pendant! We also tried to alternate the flower mukut with the gold mukut, but she didn't like the latter much.
Her dadi conducted the puja, post which we posed her for photos! Then her dadaji fed her 5 spoons of yummy payesh and a drop of water. Her payesh was served in the same silver bowl and spoon which her dad used when he was a child! The silver glass was from a set gifted by her dida. After that, her dadu fed her a spoonful, then her darling dad, then the ladies. A special guest was Deepak, Mausa-to-be, who had also come down specially from Ahmedabad for the occasion.
After the feeding, Ishi was shown a silver plate with a book (first learner dictionary!), a pen (mont blanc), a few coins (mostly Rs 5) and two pieces of jewellery (gold mukut and my gold meena necklace). The game is that she chooses an item, and that will represent her interest later in life. After some brief touching about within the plate, most notably the book, Ishi spread her arms out and clutched the sides of the entire plate!! Why choose when you can have everything :) Then we lay her down on her tummy and spread the items in front of her. She looked at each of them, without particularly fixing on any one. When we picked her up, up came with her, the pen in the right hand and jewelry in her left! She dropped the jewelry after a bit, but held on to the pen. We handed her the book in her free left hand. She held that for a bit too, then dropped it, holding on to the pen throughout, before finally dropping the pen after a while longer. The pen symbolizes wisdom and writing skill, and given that our family highly regards education, we're all pretty pleased with that choice. Of course lets not forget, her first choice was the whole plate :)
Post the game, her dress had really started irritating her, so we changed her into a soft cotton one-piece (white with little flowers) and a matching little cap. Then all the guests started arriving and Ishi went out to meet all of them. Throughout the course of the afternoon, she was feted and cuddled. We kept giving her little breaks from the crowd and the heat, taking her inside into the cool room to play about a bit in the bed. In the middle of all this, poor Daddy realized that he had maxed out his camera's memory card by videotaping the whole mukhe-bhaat ceremony. By the time he figured out a solution (finally had to delete some old photos to make space) the party was in full swing. It was also a chance for everyone to meet Deepak Mausa-to-be and that kept the heat of Ishi as well! (Tuki Maashi even called him Ishi's knight in shining armor, deflecting all 'nazars' from her! And of course Deepak simply adores Ishi!)
Dida had outdone herself with the menu, a vegetarian mix of Bengali and North Indian cuisine. There was pulao, white rice, naan, matar kachodi, navratan korma, stuffed capsicum, mochar ghonta, begun bhaja, shahi paneer, mango and date chutney, aloo bhaja, green salad, pineapple raita, rosogulla, misthi doi, paan and lots of cold drinks and coffee! Yummy food for everyone, except Ishi, whose little tummy still has a lot of growing up to do!
Three special ladies in the party where Lucky Dida, Jorbagh Dida and Watford/Khoka Dida - all my didas and Ishi's great grandmothers, the fourth generation! Another special mention for Arati Maashi who couldn't make it, but sent her blessings. Bhaiya, Bhabi, Nisha didi, Pappi didi, Jeejaji all also sent her their blessings.
After the party, Ishi played with her grandparents and mausa-masi, as her mommy-daddy catalogued and arranged gifts. She slept all the way home.
Though she has religious sanction for grains, we still plan to keep her on exclusive breastfeed till the completion of 6 months (April 19) after which we will start introducing other food. But thats a story that is yet to be lived :)
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