janmdin mubaarak ho!
(happy birthday!)
Recently, I had the opportunity to take part in a birthday celebration in India. My friend Nekibur turned 30 on October 18 (welcome to the 30's club!), which gave me the chance to learn a bit about birthday traditions in India.
I often quiz my friends on Indian traditions. I learned a little bit about birth and naming ceremonies. Although there are various religious rituals dependent upon faith of the family, there are some overarching commonalities.Typically after a baby is born, mother and child remain in the home (5-7 days) because it is believed that they are vulnerable to evil spirits during this time. After this period of time, a puja (religious rites/prayer) is performed by a priest to garner blessings for the baby. Then the namkaran (literal translation: "making of name") is performed. The baby's horoscope will be drawn at this time. Although the parents may have determined a name, there are other instances in which a letter is suggested by the priest and a family elder will whisper the name in the baby's ear.
As with everything in India, birthdays involve plenty of eating. We had a small celebration in our office with cake and khana (food). It is customary for the birthday boy/girl to cut the cake into small pieces and feed their guests. Likewise, guests feed cake to the birthday boy/girl. This usually results a very messy face. We think the sombrero and whipped cream on the nose in Mexican restaurants is bad...this is definitely worse!
left: mango milk cake
right: onion kachori with red chutney, gulab jamun, and rasgulla
That evening, several friends got together at my apartment and we all cooked a large meal with more cake smashing and dancing. For the record, I am terrible at Punjabi dancing!
(happy birthday!)
Recently, I had the opportunity to take part in a birthday celebration in India. My friend Nekibur turned 30 on October 18 (welcome to the 30's club!), which gave me the chance to learn a bit about birthday traditions in India.
I often quiz my friends on Indian traditions. I learned a little bit about birth and naming ceremonies. Although there are various religious rituals dependent upon faith of the family, there are some overarching commonalities.Typically after a baby is born, mother and child remain in the home (5-7 days) because it is believed that they are vulnerable to evil spirits during this time. After this period of time, a puja (religious rites/prayer) is performed by a priest to garner blessings for the baby. Then the namkaran (literal translation: "making of name") is performed. The baby's horoscope will be drawn at this time. Although the parents may have determined a name, there are other instances in which a letter is suggested by the priest and a family elder will whisper the name in the baby's ear.
As with everything in India, birthdays involve plenty of eating. We had a small celebration in our office with cake and khana (food). It is customary for the birthday boy/girl to cut the cake into small pieces and feed their guests. Likewise, guests feed cake to the birthday boy/girl. This usually results a very messy face. We think the sombrero and whipped cream on the nose in Mexican restaurants is bad...this is definitely worse!
right: onion kachori with red chutney, gulab jamun, and rasgulla
That evening, several friends got together at my apartment and we all cooked a large meal with more cake smashing and dancing. For the record, I am terrible at Punjabi dancing!
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