I’m on vacation now in Houston, and as is proper, there are daily, weekly, and annual rituals to observe and in which to participate.
Like going to the movies with my sister, not staying overnight at friends’ places so I can wake up and eat breakfast with the family, running late to any appointments involving my sister, brother in law, and myself in some combination, playing badminton with my mom, spending hours in front of the television which spits out a combination of Hindi and English in unlike amounts.
And infalliably, participating in various Hindu-related prayers and rituals. New Years Day provides the perfect occasion for reminding ourselves that we are Hindu, or maybe a time to re-evaluate my own Hindu-ness. We start the day late - all the sons and daughters are slow in waking. But the parents are punctually shuffling through papers for any department or grocery store sales, for coupons. This ritual seems to prepare them for later prayers.
I wake to discussions of the sale of an air-conditioning unit at Best Buy. I know whats in store and prepare my mind and body for a day of feet falling asleep from hours of sitting and palms together fingertips towards the sky. I’m ready to do pooja.
First stop, our temple at home. We sit, waiting for my sister and brother-in-law, and we start when they take too long. Books and pamphlets with lamp oil stains and tears and gods and goddesses are held again and their contents recited. Cushions are sat on, flames are lit, incense optional. Framed pictures of different avatars of gods and goddesses are gazed at. I sit in back, my parents rock back and forth as they pray, I fiddle with my cushion and my seating position.
Next stop, Meenakshi temple in Pearland, TX. A miniature of the beautiful Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai, India. We visit deity upon deity, taking turns walking around the deity. There are throngs of people around so we wait in lines to pray, to give alms, to get blessed by the priest. It is dark by now, but there are plenty of lights and lamps. Inside the main temple complex, we wait in more lines, but we are strategic and travel together, ensuring that our turns come together. And we take prasad and sit down for a moment before leaving.
My brother-in-law was ahead of us in all of this; he was always one deity ahead. When I was at Ganesh, he was at Meenakshi. Of course, I tried to keep up, but couldn’t. He even laid prostrated in front of some deities. But he drove all of us in and out of the temple; he epitomized speed pooja-ing. I was familiar with this technique, having done it myself on many occasions. The image that most pops into my head from that day now is my brother-in-law’s laced fingers accompanying his shoeless feet moving across brick and stone, eyeing the next deity to worship and preparing to convert his fingers to point to the sky, from laced to parallel.
