Senseless Syndrome

ramanujam August 11th, 2006

Yesterday was a function called as Aavani avittam (this day, on the month of Shravana, was the first day of the Fall semester in the good old Vedic schools). But now-a-days this is being celebrated as day when people change their holy thread (poonal) and eat home food with vada payasam etc.

I being a lad from an iyengar family was bound to do such holy rituals. Earlier when I did my high schooling in Ahobila Math, this day was given so much importance and students were given holidays for both Aavani avittam and Gayathri japam(the succeeding day) but in an engineering college where people assume that Brahmins(iyers) having cars as Iyen-‘gar’, it was out of scope of the people to understand AA but still all iyeru pasanga(slang)were given on duty leave for the day’s first half.

I decided to write this post mainly because of this person, my vaathi (vedic pundit), a good friend of my thatha (grandfather). As usual vaathi came for the AA. His knowledge was quite extensive and he had answers for all vedic related questions. He would be around 60 I guess and has got a cell phone. What he said really amazed me “Mama (not the usual addressing in college, it is also used to address other male elders in Brahmin communities) enaku SMS free…daily oru mandram type panni 80 peruku message anuparen, avalukum punniyam…enakum punniyam”

Then my thatha complained of the poonal being very light for which he replied “naraya peru lighta daan kekara aduvum illama seekarama arundadaan aduthu enna koopiduva!!”. Though he said this only on a lighter manner!

Watched the movies Parijatham and Imsai, will post my responses soon.

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