I’m meandering locally.
These guys will have bought their flowers but you can begin to realise why people scour the area to nick flowers in the morning.
Independence Weekend
Tag: puja
Shopping with a purpose
Don’t consider Tanuja and I to be sensible shoppers.
If our trip to the nursery is anything to go by, we’re the sort to go to the supermarket for staples and come back with puddings, the exotic rather than the plain, the icing while neglecting the cake.
We’ve got a great selection of flowers but our eyes were distracted by the shapely coloured and aromatic roses.
The problem is, as we knew, but didn’t care, they’re not a lot of use for the new Manjula’s garden in the park.
Why? you might ask.
Because people pick the flowers in the morning for their puja rituals.
So I thought I’d create a mini rose garden inside our gate.
I wish I’d done it for Manjula a few years ago as she would have loved it.
I started writing this post in a light-hearted jokiness way, only to realise this…..
Clearly these people haven’t any thought that the flowers are there for the enjoyment of all, rather than the selfish ritualistic needs of a few.
We’ve yet to plant out our flowers in Manjula’s garden and I seriously wonder if any of the flowers will survive, if I don’t employ a 24/7 guard.
It’s even worse with the roses in the next park. They are carefully nurtured by the gardeners but people go in and steal the whole plant.
We need some English old fashioned park signs ‘don’t pick the flowers.’
Another case for the missing dharma detective.
Sharing Shrines
our Hindu house has a Pooja room, set up by MAnjula it’s still used for certain festivals. Other households would use it everyday. Our next festival is likely to be for the big rotund guy, my favourite: Ganesh.
No two houses are the same which might be due to the specific Gods, they worship, their caste or maybe just because India is incredibly consistently inconsistent.
In memory of MAnjula as with many households a photo, is placed in the hall (lounge/living room) when people die. For the first year we’d place flowers around her every month, with a special Pooja on her annual death anniversary. This all part of a series of rituals to help her soul spirit find another body and be reincarnated into her next life.
In our house there’s a main photo of MAnjula in each of our two lounges. Fact is there are photos of her everywhere. My son thinks The whole house is becoming a shrine.
Now after two years I’ve decorated her like a Christmas tree with lights all around her.
Sometimes she’ll get a little extra treatment with red or yellow dots and we’ll do a little Pooja. It’s essentially a prayer with a request to god.
We’re flexi here.
For me it’s especially important to acknowledge our being together and celebrate Manjula as many didn’t know about our relationship.
Why?
That will feature in our story.
Happy Ugadi
It’s times like this we miss our closest. It’s also why they also remember us and send a love message.
Me and MYCycle 