About Devotion and Posteriors

First of all let me wish all my Hindu readers best wishes for Makar Sankranti. To all my Maharashtrian readers "Til gul ghya goda bolaa."

This day is supposed to be an auspicious days for Hindus and is celebrated with fervour. It marks the six month period of the sun's travel to the north called "Uttarayana." It has different names in different parts of the Indian subcontinent and each region has their own typical festivities associated with it. If you are interested you can read here.

In my state (Maharashtra) women make round balls of sesame and molasses called til gul. These are exchanged as token of goodwill. It is cold during this time and sesame seeds are supposed to provide warmth to endure the season. For a period of three weeks since Makar Sankranti Maharashtrian women have get togethers called "haldi-kumkum" in their homes. Other married ladies are invited and the hostess buys gifts for all her guests. My mother would host that in our home when we were children. It was a fun occassion to wear her sarees and traditional jewelry. When we grew up, we were so busy with our college and exams that my mother stopped hosting them. She and my mother-in-law had seperately hosted one for me ten years ago, when I was a newly-wed.

This evening I went to the temple. I went around the time for the evening prayers. Whenever K is with me, he rushes me and doesn't let me attend the evening prayer because it absolutely bores him! Since I was by myself I waited to attend it. The priest sounded the conch shell for the evening arati. I absolutely love the sound of conch shell and bells.

There were around 20 to 25 people gathered there. They passed around the prayer books and people were reciting from that. It was a very beautiful evening. While singing praises to Goddess Durga, I noticed the guy in front of me oblivious to the surroundings and the prayer, caressing the posterior of his significant other. Then there was one section of the prayers where one claps their hands and sings along with the priest. The entire time this man was rythmically patting his significant other's derriere. It doesn't seem funny now but at that time it seemed really funny. I kept a straight face the entire time but there was a woman standing next to me who actually giggled rather loudly! I am assuming that she might have seen what I saw. The priest stopped the service and implored in Hindi, "Shanti ka daan deejiye," which literally translates as please donate some peace and quiet. I had never heard that expression before and thought that it was even funnier. I was ready to explode. I cannot believe that I kept a straight face the entire time. The time till the conclusion of service and my rushing to the car to laugh seemed like an eternity!