‘How does the rain arrive?’ granny asks, ‘with elephant’s footsteps’ I reply.
I always wait for the month of October. To be precise for ‘hasta nakshtra’(elephant constellation). It’s the time of the year when it rains heavily. This is the time when all the girls and women gather and play Hadga (a ceremony)!
‘For a few hours we have forgotten about the adulthood.
We dance round and round, round and roud, round and round…..’
My Grandma sings!
I stay in the costal Maharshtra in a village called, Guhaghar. We have gathered over the beach to plan the arrangements for this ceremony tomorrow. First day of the ceremony will happen at my place. For the next ten days it will be held in different households across the town.
My elder sister has given me the responsibility of collecting different flowers across the town and invite all the girls and women from the neighborhood. Meanwhile she is going to prepare henna cones for all of us!
I first run to the Ganesh temple, with my friend Kalyani. Its almost twelve in the afternoon. But the sky is filled with black clouds. And mild rains are pouring. We are running with slippers in our feet splashing every puddle on the way!
We enter the Ganesh temple. Its an old temple. Built in red stone. kept very neatly. Just near the entrance there is a huge Bakul tree! The ground is filled with the Bakul flowers. These are tiny, off white, button like, flowers, which have a pungent but sweetest of the fragrance. Kalyani and I start collecting the the Bakul flowers in our baskets. ‘I will use them for the small garlands in my hair.’ Says Kalyani.
We go to the temple. I pray to the Lord Ganesha to help me get the ‘hadga’ flowers near the fencing of the temple. Hadga (or Bhondla) ceremony is named after these flowers. As they are available in the season.
The priest gives us crystallized sugar.
He tells us to collect the hibiscus flowers from the back of the temple. We rush to the backyard,jump over the temple compound, and we are delighted to find the pinkish red, elegant hibiscus. We hurriedly but carefully collect the flowers. Behind the the hibiscus tree is the mighty peepal tree, which guides one’s eyes to the spiral river....Our friend Ram and his elder sister Sarla are sitting in the boats over the river. We invite Sarla to our house for the Hadga ceremony tomorrow. She smiles and joins us for collecting the flowers.
Sarla has just passed the tenth exam. She is elder than me and Kalyani by two years
I know Sarla is from Koli caste. Sarla’s family has a fishing business. They also take people for the boat ride in the summer and winter.
And we are Brahmins. But in my house Grandma is strictly against the caste system! Even the woman who comes for domestic chores (house help) is treated like a family member and is invited to the Hadga ceremony. ‘Every caste has something precious and unique to offer’ says my grandma. She has taught us to look at the castes as different coloured flowers in a garland!’ each colour contributing to the beauty!
Kalyani, Sarla and I now head towards the temple fence. As I prayed earlier, I see a lot of ‘Hadga flowers’ within the reach! Hadga flowers are also called the hummingbird flowers, because they are beak shaped. They are available in four colours, pink, white, yellow and purple. They mostly grow in humid, warm surroundings. The white flowers are edible with a sweet lingering taste!
We use the sticks near the fence to pick the Hadga flowers. We then go to ‘Anna pavshe’s marigold farm to get the vibrant marigold flowers. We invite his wife, Arundhati kaku (aunt) for the hadga ceremony! She accepts tomorrow’s invitation and gives the marigold flowers generously.
Her neighbor is Mrs. Konnur. She is from kerala but she has settled in Maharashtra. We invite her too! And she gives us the effervescent champa flowers. We cross one lane and find the green champa flowers. Our friend Maithili gives us peach coloured aboli flowers. And promises to come for the ceremony.
We also find some pink madhumalati flowers and pretty roses in Deshmukh kaku’s (aunti’s) front yard.
With all the collected flowers we head towards home, carefully walking, making our way through the wet road.
I immediately start separating the different coloured ‘Hadga flowers’. I am going to use the pink and yellow (Hadga) flowers for the decoration and the white flowers to make pakoras. I tell my mother to make pakoras out of these flowers. My mother quickly makes pakoras. The fragrance of ajwain in the pakoras fills the house.
I distribute pakoras among everyone. I put one pakora in my sister’s mouth who is busy making henna cones. My grandma loves the pakoras. She tells me about one more recipe from the Hadga flowers. ‘Hadga flowers stir fry’
My grandma is going to make the ‘recipe for the ceremony’, tomorrow out of coriander seeds, sugar, poppy seeds and dry coconut. This will be given to all the guests, at the end of the games.
My sister has made the henna cones. Sarla decides to stay back for the night. Its almost time for bed. My sister gives everyone one cone and tells to start with the henna. The house is all filled with Henna smell. Kalyani is an expert in drawing intricate designs. We take inspiration from her and draw the designs. Kalyani draws the designs on my mother’s and grandmother’s hands.
My father feeds me rice as my hands are wet with henna! Today my father and grandfather are being shifted to my room as the living room and the kitchen has been taken over by the women in the house!
Next day, we clean the veranda. Kalyani, sarla, me and my sister start to decorate the the space. We have put brass lamps in all the four corners. We shall be lighting butter lamps. Kalyani is drawing the flower designs around them. I am drawing Rangoli on the steps, in the front yard. My sister is brought a small wooden plank. She has kept it in the center of the veranda.
My mother and sister are drawing an elephant design using rice and the lentils on the wooden plank in the center. And pray to the nature for prosperity. Hoping that the produce will come in the size of an elephant.
Its almost five thirty in the evening. Konnur aunty, Arundhati kaku, Deshmukh aunty. Three of my cousins, our house help and her twin daughters, and many more have arrived. With colourful sarees and fragrant garlands in their hair, our varanda is looking cheerful, colourful and festive.
Everyone has brought a tiffin with some special delicacy. These tiffins are placed in one corner and shall be opened later.
Now its time to play. We all gather around the rice and lentil elephant. Small girls like me form first circle closest to the lentil elephant, teenage girls form the second circle and my aunts, mother, grandmother form the last circle. We dance in circles while singing a song asking for blessing from Lord Ganesha for the success of the ceremony.
In old times girls used to get married early in their life. So these (Hadga) songs were invented, complaining about the in-law’s house (In a funny way) and describing the love for the mother’s place.
These quirky songs are meant to distress the young women staying in her husband’s house. Making a healthy fun of the people in her husband’s family. For unmarried girls its painting of rosy picture that ‘when I get married my mother in-law will also arrange a Hadga to celebrate me’
Newly weds are very happy and are giggling wholeheartedly while singing the songs. We have danced to around twenty-five songs. We are at the end of the ceremony. My grandmother distributes the ‘cumin seed and sugar delicacy’ to everyone. Along with some Hadga flowers pakoras.
Now everyone picks up their tiffins and rattles them one by one. And we have to guess what’s in the tiffin. We eat all the delicacies one by one. No matter how simple or fancy.
All of us pray, laugh, sing, share, eat. Our faces are lit with the joy of dancing. We disperse, for the day, for next Hadga, that shall continue in different households, for ten days, to pray for unity, prosperity and wellbeing of all the women.
Raindrops form the melodies of my songs.
With sweet memories of my childhood, we are dancing in circles,
Thinking about my loving mother.
Genda, gulab, juhi, champa, cahmeli,
Like diverse flowers in one garland,
We hold each other’s hands to dance and sing to rain
to bring us prosperity, togetherness and joy…
For a few hours we have forgotten about the adulthood.
We dance round and round, round and roud, round and round.
- Nirzara Verulkar
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