Well finally the day arrived and lots of preparation was going on, both grandpa's had arranged for the materials required for the ceremony and for the vadhyar.
all woke up early around 5 am and started taking bath and getting ready for the ceremony, it was so nice to see everyone dress up in traditional attires. since we had this event at home it was mainly a family affair and the only relatives in Dubai had arrived for this event. my peema and peepa, with my 2 friends (sisters) and kalpana aunty. venkat uncle had gone for a Himalayan trek and he promised to share his experiences on this trek when I grow up, so that I will also some day if interested go on a similar trek.
vadhyar came at 7:45 am and started making the arrangements for the ceremony.. we switched on the Skype so that my aunts and great grand ma can watch the ceremony live from our home in Bombay. my elder sis dhithya was so happy to see the ceremony and she was jumping up and down.. Rahul anna had school and so he couldn't see the ceremony live :( but no probs big bro you can always watch the videos and photos which my mama and peepa took.
my papa and mamma were sitting with the vadhyar and going thru the rituals as dictated by the vadhyars. all othere were seated and were talking and enjoying the ceremony. peepa and mama were clicking photos continuously like I am a celebrity..they love me so much and hence didn't want to miss capturing a single moment.
Pati's were helping the vadhyars with the necessary items required for the rituals, and it was all joyful to see it. the naming ceremony finally concluded with my parents mentioning my name in my little ears and it got imprinted on me. I could hear the words Nirvi Nirvi Nirvi mentioned 3 times by me papa. I love you dad for keeping such a unique and meaningful name. Nirvi means Bliss and my parents say they find bliss in me, he he ha ha I am bliss myself as that is my name and real nature. :)
as per ritual 5 names are supposed to be kept and hence here goes my other 4 names, Anika, Tashii, Rukmini and Rajalakshmi. but Nirvi will be my official name in this world. As my papa says we all have come here to 'act only' hence don't take anything seriously and have fun, hence for acting out my character has been named Nirvi.
After the ceremony was over all had a sumptuous breakfast ordered from saravanaa bhavan pongal and idli, everyone was raving about the taste especially of pongal and sambhar, and both dishes are my papa's favourites. Hope I grow up and like the pongal :)
For me I had my mom's milk and went to sleep. everyone else were talking and had a fun time.
Lunch was served and dishes included rice, sambhar, avail, gajar halwa, papad, potato curry, pickles and curd. everyone had their fill and had a quick afternoon siesta so that all can be fresh for the evening rituals.
all woke up at 5 pm, had coffee and then got ready and dressed up to start the cradle ceremony function, this is a inhouse function without the requirements of vadhyars.
The cradle had been setup beautifully with flowers by my naveen mama and Bombay thatha. The cradle had been bought by my thatha and it was given by my sister dhithya, aunt lavanya and uncle sumanth. thanks for that aunty and uncle :)
the ceremony started and Bangalore pati told first an object dressed up as baby should be circulated from top and bottom of the cradle and placed inside before putting me in.. and then the same was done for me..my papa standing in one corner and taking videos quietly smiled and remarked well the circus begins.. :) finally after all circus I was placed inside the cradle but it was fun and all in good spirits, whatever said though all this is done in name of traditions it actually is fun to watch all this and I guess that must have been the objective initially right at the start when this was introduced by someone somewhere.
all started singing traditional songs in tamil and it was little boring suddenly my papa sprang up and said why only these kind of songs we can sing any song and started singing cinema songs..he was totally bad I must admit,,papa but I love you as you really changed a boring environment into a fun one and he made everyone sing a song including thatha's and my 2 sisters. this triggered off an anthakshari session between young vs old people and it was so much fun.
it ended after an hour and we all had dinner and peepa, peema and my 2 sisters left for their home as it was quite late night and also my grandpa's went with them for a change of place.
we all had a nice nirviful sleep later :) see the pics below for Naming Ceremony and Cradle Ceremony...
