Special Mom’s blog

Today I gave my husband Lalitha Sahasranamam book and asked me to check my memorization fluency of the shlokas. He was pretty surprised at my fluency. Two years back I did do a detailed class on it and am learning the same with raaga now. But my first exposure to this great scripture was me as a child when my Mom was trying to memorize it and I had made her turn the book since the pages didn’t move in the regular book way. Anyway when I was in 11th grade my Appa frequently had darshan at Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple and he had to learn Lalitha Sahashranamam so that he can chant before they perform Ayyappa pooja .Myself and appa learnt it from papu, my maternal grandmother. Learning was just the first part. Appa used to take me frequently to Ayyappan Temple at MRC Nagar. We used to sit and chant completely during pooja. In fact many Sundays were spent chanting it. I don’t remember memorizing it or going for competition to perform but that was just a casual compulsory occurrence I did with appa.

The memory of wearing half saree the sandal wood paste from the temple are the sensory feelings I still experience along with the scripture. Unlike my son who gets a treat after temple visits I didn’t get any. It was just plain lunch after the trip to the temple with appa on his TVS 50 motorcycle 😊.

I call my amma every day and rarely speak to appa . Maybe because we argue so much on every subject. (Anything on this planet we will have difference of opinion) I am just like him and like poles repel😂. Maybe because I live in a house full of men and talking to my Mom fills the vaccum created by absence of girls. So my husband was quite surprised by the narration of this incident to him.

Unlike other Dads my appa is not sentimental. He gifts me stuff when he thinks it is right for me. We have never had sentimental conversations. Even now he got me couple of sarees and mailed it to me. The sarees were expensive which he didn’t need to get me . I think that Saturday morning couple of weeks ago when he called me from Raasi silks asking me select sarees I will remember the rest of my life. It did compel my husband to get one too😂 which was a bonus. (the shopkeeper was persuasive too on the whatssap video call!)

As I celebrated my birthday and Navarathri and waiting to celebrate my 25th Wedding Day and Diwali I have loads of sarees at my disposal to show off.

My amma keeps saying don’t argue with appa all the time, but she may not understand our bonding😊. I can still remember him saying when my Mom was pregnant with me he used to see a girl baby frock in front of the shop and wished for a girl when my Mom herself was praying for a baby boy.

As I complete 25 years of marriage I feel I am more grateful to my parents for raising me in a

way that I can handle marriage and family life.