The Celebrations in the Family

It was an event that the whole family looked up to … It had everyone engaged.. While the siblings were engaged in how to do the celebration   the best they can to their parents , their children were engaged in how to please and make their grandparents happy. Well , it was the celebration of my father in law’s , 80^th or should I call it 81st birthday or half way between turning 80 and getting closer to 81 ? The reason I call it this  way is that the celebration was not on his birthdate. There were several discussions as to when to celebrate this – Astrologers were consulted , Pandits were consulted , several others who crossed 80 years were called to check on when the function had to be performed.  And there were several  others who gave their  ideas and opinion and recollections of how this was done when their third cousin’s sister in laws  , in laws turned 80 ! It was all confusing .However what settled it was my Sister in law’s ability to come to India and that could happen only when it is vacation time for her kids back in the US.. So this July 12^th and 13^th were the two days that we children rallied around to celebrate.

The first day morning was a “ thanksgiving “ to the Almighty that involved invoking all the Hindu Gods and thanking them for the kindness and blessings shown on the family that helped perform the function.

The same day . evening all the grandchildren got up on stage  to create a Music Concert ( Carnatic ) .. there was vocal , Violin and Veena and all of them performed admirably and exceeded expectations of their respective parents ! There could be no other delight to the Grandparents ..

I enjoyed the time away from work—One thing that did not work well on Day 1  was the Catering and what cannot reach the stomach well meant that the whole function may turn in to a failure of sorts.

So on the next day , I took responsibility to take charge of the Dining area .. My dressing was right and wrong .. So here is  lead up to several comical events that I enjoyed along with the entire celebrations of the function.

I was dressed in  a spotless White Dhoti and a White Shirt and had “ashes “ smeared on my forehead. I was hustling and bustling  the catering guys – calling out for snacks / side dishes alongside the table  and this made  me a prominent guy in the dining area. We also had support from the caterer—a bunch of ladies who  helped the guests to find a seat on the table. One of these  support lady came to me and told that we are out of Idly and can I make them ?She thought that I   was the Catering Head – that was based on my dressing and the noise I created with the staff – It was time to get out of the Dining area !

As I walked around the tables , checking with every guest as to whether they needed anything , I found a very old man demanding stuff. He was on to the menu and was making his presence felt at the Dining table. And he looked out of sorts .. Did not look like one of  those who was invited nor could I place him amongst those hundreds of relatives from my wife’s side. He became louder in his demands and I thought I should check. I asked him gently as to who he was .. He retorted with a “ Don’t you know who I am “? I was taken back least I had forgotten a relative of my wife ( how tough it would be to  explain this later ) .. I told him – I do not know you.He said that he had come to bless my Father in law and he needed no invitation to come to this type of function. He finished his breakfast and just got on to the stage and sat amongst the rest of the Pandits who also did not know him. Later , he finished Lunch as well and then came back on stage , blessed my Father in law ( he said he was 84 years old ) and then demanded money for blessing that he did ! We gave him Rs 100 and he wanted  minimum five times that .. he had to be evicted forcibly !

Then there was this guy from a  Welfare Association ( Colony where my Father in law resides )  -- he had to give a small speech, else he could not handover the memento—He grabbed the mike and started a speech in local lingo calling out  every  one of the Association Office bearers ( that took close to 3 minutes ) .. Then he started to read the Citation in the memento and then he started again describing his efforts in running the Welfare Association. No one was listening but give it to the Guy, he just kept on to his speech and he also did not care whether people listened to him or not .. he just went on .. I went off stage and pulled off the electric connection to the  Microphone.. he did not care .. he just put the microphone down and continued his thundering .. there was no way to bring him to a halt. Mercifully he stopped but he stole the show and had everyone turned on to him.

Just like the gentlemen who came in to bless my Father in law , we realized there were several others , who have made this their “Day job”. Find a marriage Hall,  Walk in , have food , collect the return gifts and leave. They move around so easily and you could never tell they are “ outsiders” to the function. My Wife  and Sister in law took charge to ensure that we thanked everyone who came in and had their Vettaali Pakku ( Betel Leaves and Betel Nut with a Coconut that is handed over in nice bag that virtually is the return gift). In addition to this there was box that contained several goodies. My wife gave  a lady  a bag that did not have the box. The lady opened the bag and demanded that she be given the box of goodies as well. Although , my wife did not recognize the lady , she just gave in a box … So the trespassers who  know how to get in, also knew the entire schematics of the function  and  what they could get.

We all laughed about the above incidents post the function

Overall , it was one of those memorable events in our family for several reasons:

• Blessed and Lucky that we could celebrate this milestone 
• All of us with in the  family ( Four siblings m their spouses and kids ) were able to attend from the family and that again was a big deal
• One of my wife’s cousin landed from the US on the morning of the function and that took everyone by surprise and shock. He did not tell anyone including his parents and when he walked in , it was joy behold
• The grandchildren did a great job—the concert kept everyone engaged and it was close to 150 minutes and day 2, they took care of all the gifts from guests – sorting them
• There was lot of running around for everyone but no one whined – they all loved doing it . The kids were remarkable and suddenly we found them responsible during the function ( I guess they are back to their ways post the function )
• From start to finish , everything went smooth except for the number of guests that turned up ( at one point it was bursting seam but somehow as time went by , everything went well )
• The caterers rallied on Day 2 and did their culinary skills and their serving no harm
• It was great event for one and all -- withinin the family  and friends of the families to get together