Being part of a large family, according to me , is a big boon. I grew up in a family filled with aunts and uncles who all lived in the same city and made it a point to gather for every occasion possible. The annual ceremony (Srartham) that was done for my grandparents, in particular, was always eagerly looked forward to by all my cousins. The Srarthams were done at our house, my father being the eldest son. We, as kids would plan the day in advance along with our cousins and we used to have a blast. All kids were packed off by the elders to go out and eat something, since the ceremonies would take a long time and lunch would be delayed. We used to go out, have a good breakfast and spend the rest of the day sitting at the patio, singing songs, playing anthakshari, sharing and laughing at the latest jokes in Tamil movies. Now, years later, when we cousins happen to meet , we discuss the great times we've had.Now, my children too have been lucky enough, so far, to have had similar good times, being part of a large family. They look forward to the annual trip to Chennai to spend time with their cousins and they say , especially so, on the day of the ceremony of my father-in-law. They enjoy having everybody under one roof (they even go on a srartham shopping, to buy , all the knick- knacks they want) and they have a great time dancing and singing behind the shut doors of the room. But slowly , with some cousins already into college and others moving away to distant places, those days are history. But what saddens me the most is that the future generation might hardly have this kind of fun, since people don't seem to have faith in performing such ceremonies and it is seen as more of a ritual and not as a family-get-together. No social networking site can make up for the real fun of such gatherings of cousins and siblings. With the advance in technology, actual human contact and interaction is lessening and we don't seem to realise that. We are happy and proud to have a Facebook account rather than showing up for gatherings in person.
3 comments:
It is good as kids. Not when you become part of it as the persons involved. Then it is only politics. More than ceremony , it is the differences which surface
I fully agree with the anonymous's comment, as we get older we make mountain's out of mole hills.
Karthik
its true, wt you have said and others who have commented here, but i will say it is purely based on the person's attitude, and interest in joining things and understanding others, no people are great in anything or everything, only they need to understand that they are also similar people like us. we need to enjoy without any ego. if v have this attitude, then it is quite possible even as a grown up.
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