Upanayanam of grandsons

Unlike the lull that marks the last leg of one's visit abroad, the last three weeks have been extraordinarily busy for us. We performed the Upanayanam of both our Phoenix grandsons, took a family vacation to Philadelphia; then to Boston for an engagement ceremony, took Harvard and MIT tours, and had a chance lunch meeting with my WHO-Geneva boss. Here is the Upanayanam account, to begin with. (Yes, I plan to cover each of these, one by one. My younger son had said long back that he would compile all my articles in the form of a book at a later date – if you know what he means – and retain it for posterity, whatever that might mean.)

“Amma, I got a call from my parents in Delhi. They plan to visit US in June. Won't it be great if we perform Ashwin and Rohan's Upanayanam while both parents are here?” asked our d-i-l Sunita, rushing down the stairs. “There can't be a better opportunity than this dear,” responded Aunty.

We identified the Udupi Venkata Krishna temple in Phoenix as the venue. It is vast and spacious. It was a church earlier, and has an architectural splendour of its own. Leaving that untouched, the temple authorities made minor modifications in the hall so that one felt the ambience of a temple in full measure with separate sanctum sanctorum for Lord Venkateswara, Goddess Lakshmi, and Lord Shiva and Ganesha. The best of both the worlds.

We met Kiran ji, the Chief Priest. He had spent seven years in the Veda Pathashala (no less than for an MBBS course) in Udupi and had also obtained Masters in Sanskrit before qualifying himself to perform pujas and rituals. A few permutations and combinations vis-a-vis the stars and planetary positions of parents and sons, and he pronounced 21 June ideal for the ceremony, for both grandsons. The parents would give Brahmopadesam to the elder son, and the grandparents to the younger.Then, as though chanting mantras, he went on to list items for the function.

For the worldly items, Sunita and Aunty browsed the sites of Nalli, Kumarans, RMKV, Pothy’s, to select sarees and veshtis, and ordered them in bits and pieces from each outlet, to be delivered at Sunita’s parents' home in Delhi. They would exchange from the Delhi branch of the shop if any piece was not up to the mark.

The temple accepts orders for Murukku (read Chakli), Laddu, Mysore Pak. Also, they prepared food as per devotee's menu to the best of their ability. The flower vendor quoted an exorbitant rate for garlands for the boys. The ladies did a make-do job at home. Though Sunita's brother is a good photographer, since he has an important role as the boys' 'mama', we engaged Jacob, belonging to Eranakulam. A professional, he did his job well.

Hotel reservation, transportation, and other logistics were made strictly according to the responses received for the Evite. But as always promises and show-up were at variance in the end necessitating last minute additions and deletions.

The ceremony was divided into three parts: Guru Shanthi puja a week before, Udaga Shanti puja the night before, and Naandi and Upanayanam on 21 June. For the Udaga Shanti Kiran ji had arranged for five devotee-priests (executives and managers during the day) to chant Veda mantras. For the rest of the events, it was 1 purohit and 2 Upanayanams. But Kiran's intonation and diction, worthy of emulation, reverberated the hall, obviating the need for a second. Earlier he had asked if we needed Nadaswaram for the function. Assuming it meant summoning a team, I politely declined. But he guessed my fear and repeated, “No? You don't wish me to play the recorded YouTube nadaswaram?” “Oh yes, yes, of course,” I revised my stand. It was played with gusto, and Kiranji promptly interjected during ads. At one time the invitees heard sounds from rooftop with some small pieces falling down. They wondered if these could be heavenly blessings on way, a la Bollywood movies. Kiran ji clarified that the central airconditioning was being replaced and cranes were in operation atop from outside. These were pieces from the false ceiling.

Simple, well organized, no compromise on mantras, and good food, felt the invitees, as we bade them farewell at the gate with token return gifts. “Now I feel emboldened to perform my own son's Upanayanam,” said yet another. “All is well that ends well,” we told ourselves as we drove back home.

(Next: Philadelphia Calling)