On What Avani-Avittam is and is NOT!

It has been a while since I had to only 'e-live' in India, and all these years I get to see greetings like "Happy Avani Avittam". But this backdates even further, during my days in India where I get to see neighbours and relatives asking "Poonal maathiyaacha?". Don't take me wrong, but it is really depressing to be in know of facts when all around you prefer being shallow about it.

A brahmachari is not just an unwed boy with upaveetham (poonal i.e., post upanayanam). He is (assumed to be) a learner of the specific shAkai of vEdam prescribed for his gOtram; TaitrIya-shAkai of krsnayajurvEdam in my case. His vEdArambam is on his upanayanam day for the first year, and from the subsequent years, the adyayanam (learning) period starts on Pournami day of Kataka mAsam and ends on Ammavasai of Makara mAsam. There are days of Ammavasai, grahanam and some other miscelleneous occassions when the adyayanam is prohibited, within the learning period.

But in the quest to finish his quota for the year, the boy may jump the limits and continue learning a bit further than the stipulated end-date, and there may be a few lapses in-between. Before starting his term the following year, he is expected to perform upAkarma, when he chants a mantra a good number of times as a prAyaschittam for the above lapses. To perform the prAyaschitta japam, he needs to change his upaveetham, mounji and deerskin.

[During the anadyayana period (Makara Ammavasai till Kataka Pournami), the boy is expected to devote himself to learning of the vEdAngAs : sikshA, vyAkaranam, niruktam, chandas, jyotisham and kalpam]

In the sankalpam for upAkarma, the main sankalpam will be to the adyAyOtsar~jana akaraNa prAyaschitta japam and adyAyOpakarma (starting a new term), for which, the changing of upaveetham (with mounji, etc.) is an angam, an angam for which is shaving and bathing. Since the changing of upaveetham on this day has a special karma attached to it, one may choose to mark the day with it. But in general sense, asking a brahmin male, whether he has changed(see note: 4) his upaveetham, is only as good as asking if he has bathed!

To Girls : If you really have the guts, greet your male relatives and friends who have had upanayanam done : "may your Sandyavandanam be in routine without lapses for the next year". Let's see how many would actually pick up the habit, to save themselves from this (otherwise) embarrassing greet, the next year :-)

Note:

1) Performing daily sandyavandanam is a part and essential requirement of the daily learning in the adayayana and anadyayana period. Even lapses in performance of sandayavandanam is covered in the upAkarma.

2) For one who has finished learning, it becomes a duty to recite atleast one full prasna, from the learned shAkai, everyday as brahma-yagnam without fail. Due to time constriants, the (required)one full prasna may get reduced to one sUktam or one mantram, which still are accounted as lapses that are to be compensated (begged pardon for), for such sins not to hinder one's further quests in vaidIka-karma.

3) The point 1 & 2 extends to gruhastAs.

4) Upaveetham can be changed at will, any day, depending on the need. It needs to be changed everytime one has sarvAnga shave on the face and head from a barber. Also, changing may be of need if there is a special karma like homam or srAddam is performed by the kartA.

When the 31st tooth causes pain

It has been a couple of years, since I learnt to keep it to self, untill it becomes absolutely neccessary to open the mouth. By that, I have managed to save myself from the un-productive and often counter-productive arguements that I used to run into.

There was one arguement that I raised, three years back I suppose, when a person made a claim that Hindi was the mutated, simplified and modernised version of Sanskrit. I got real serious into explaining how Hindi fundamentally was different from Sanskrit, be it in the deviation in grammar, pronunciation and etymology (vyAkaraNa, swara and niruktam), and how it was far away from any original Indian language, only enjoying borrowed vocabulary from Sanskrit with nothing alike in structure. I even managed to elaborate through three examples. When I got in return, this:

"You are giving examples with proper-nouns, and a proper-noun can be pronunced or spelt anyway we want to",

I was seriously taken aback. In my knowledge and understanding from the elementary level, the freedom to pronunce or spell a proper-noun was an allowance given in the grammar of English language. Since when did that become a Universal Fact ?, I wondered. I gave the above reply and withdrew myself from the scene, there. But it took me back years, quite a number of years that is.

I believe it was my 3rd class in school, and in the exam hall, I was seated next to a girl from the 1st std class. I had finished my exam well within time (as always!), and was peeping into that girl's paper. It was her Science exam, and I suppose she had a question about 'Food and clothing habits of Earlyman', and she was answering it ".... when Tom spilt milk from the Bess's bottle, Bess was very sad. She started crying ....."**.

I got really disturbed with that, and hissed to her

"nee ezhudardhu english!" and she replied "naan mattum enna tamizh'na sonnen?"

I didn't realise then, that I will live one day to see that some people just grow old and not up!

**There was a short story in English Prose on Tom and Bess, in which Tom spills Bess's milk and apologises and shares with her, milk from his bottle. It was a lesson to teach to say sorry and share your belongings with friends. :P

10 Things about being braught up as a South-Madras Middle-Class kid

1)

You get to have an extended childhood, upto early 17. Till then, you have the privilege to get slapped for your mischieves in front of about a half a dozen till about 14 and behind closed doors after that, at home and school (not sure of the closed-doors thing with the later ;-) )

2)

You tend to get more possessive of your paatti than any other person in your life; being envious of a cousin with whom she had to stay for a while. You also strike a deal with your friends to borrow their granny for an afternoon tale when your's is away, with a promise that your Paatti will have a fresh new tale to tell them too, when she is back.

3)

A Cold war that has picked up, for your group chose to live with a cricket bat and bruises in elbows and knees, while the other half took a comb to groom their Barbie dolls and their little Ponies, does get a temperory patch up during Navaratri, when they shed a little of their ego to light up your girl-child-less home with their colourful presence. Not to deny your part of shedding the ego in the tolerance you show towards the "thaenja-record" singing of 'vara veeNA' and 'rAravENu gOpApAlA' :P

4)

I remember, most of my daily wear that I put on to go to play, had buttons stitched in 4 different coloured threads; also the shorts with some mending, for not that we can't afford or take more care on looks, but for it was decided to be enough. These things change at 17! And quite a drastic change will that be.

5)

The apartment/street association meetings will be so acrimonious that women and children are generally forbidden from being in the vicinity. Nevertheless, such animosity which ought to have warranted no eye-to-eye greetings amongst our Dad's, will all subside for their children play together. We were the peace-ambassadors unaware :-)

6)

We make challenges about being the first to burst on the Deepavali morning. It started off with a 5am Redfort, then to 4:45 Redfort Giant, then to a 150 wala at 4:15 and finally to a bullet bomb at 4. I am an unbeaten(able) champ you see! B-)

Poor Appa!, had to get up 15mins ahead of my (challenged)schedule and get the cracker ready with the thread pinched and agarbathi light, to wake the VIP up to go royally escorted to win the challenge :P

7)

You can't help but to live with the build-up around, when you reach that stage in life, the stage of being in 10th grade (Matriculation or Secondary School). You would be forced to buy the story that you will end up feeling guilty of not actually feeling the pressure. I just couldn't resist, and went out to play the evening before my Mathematics-II exam. I still wonder, how many of the households saw me as a maverick then, lest they would know I scored a 97+ in that exam ;-)

8)

Once you complete school, even before you reveal the results to your neighbours, you will be surprised to see that a person, whom you had thought had no connection with you, knows exactly what you have scored and would have a list of suggestions to make, on what you should do further!. But Beware! Beware of all the 40+ people. Society will have a planned Tsunami attack on you. If you manage to escape the wave, you will actually have a life. You have one example... in Me!

9)

When I said extended childhood, one need not panic. Your teen typically starts at 17 and goes on till 24: So nothing is lost. You can get the signs of your Teen-age when you dare to give up your street cricket for watching a live telecast on TV :P. You will have occassional rumours and news about incidents of romance and romantic pursuits and more of that what has gone wrong, but you seldom feel the pressure of remaining single, for your close associates, who still are associates, have all been losers as you are :D

10)

Elders talk a lot to you, especially in your Teens (17-24 in this case, for a reminder). They think, it is their responsibility to transfer their wisdom to you, by all the talking they do. Listen to them. Atleast I did! When you reflect on what they told a few years later, you would have learnt a lot from them, not from what they thought had taught, but from what they Inspired!