Hiya All
Here I am bloggin my thoughts, ideas, journals and ofcourse my inevitable ramblings. Greatly appreciate you'll stopping by and add comments if you will. See ya!
Here I am bloggin my thoughts, ideas, journals and ofcourse my inevitable ramblings. Greatly appreciate you'll stopping by and add comments if you will. See ya!
Krishna and I
Posted 21st August 2008 at 12:17 PM by Anandchitra
With Janmashtami around the corner for me, I am spending more time reflecting back on my very first Janmashtami. By my very first, I mean, the one I celebrated after I got married.
Growing up, Krishna was one of my favorite Gods. Krishna always held a magical touch for me what with his love for Radha and his antics in eating butter.. I should say the fascination of that story was that he stole butter from his neighbors and when he did get caught.. his looks at his mother..
I also used to swirl the curds to get butter. In my home, a leg of a table was permanently entwined with strong ropes and all I needed to do was take my curd container to that spot. Curds were always kept in my home in what we called the “Bharani” which is a glossed earthen ware pot. Most of the time these pots had a standard color with the body of the pot being creamish color and the neck being a mild green, I think. Or maybe the neck was a mild brown. So I would take my pot and my standard “Mathu” which is a wooden stick, one end of it was rounded grooves so the constant swirling of the curds would in time yield butter.
Maybe I was given this task as our kitchen was always crowded with my mother and grandmother and any other relative who happened to be there. This job I could take it away from the kitchen area. Or maybe I was given this because I used to always be busy with studies.. Or maybe it was given because I was not good at other cooking jobs.. wait that is not true. The only other cooking job I was entrusted, on a daily basis, was using the “Ammi kal” which is a stone grinder. It was a flat bulky rectangular stone . In my home it was set into the countertop itself , on one end.
This big stone had a smaller stone sitting on top. This smaller stone was of the width of the big stone but was a movable object. So you placed coconut and other ingredients on top of big stone and then moved the small stone on forward and backward motion to grind the ingredients.
My grandmother was particular about the grinding consistency for different items. For sambhar she wanted coarse and for Thogaiyal less or no water and such.. But I digress..
So I used to swirl the curds to get my butter and would always smile fascinated by the butter forming in the bottom of my Mathu.
Before long lots of butter would have gathered up and then I will hand over the ceramic pot and mathu to my grandmother who would then clean it for me and then melt the butter to make ghee. If I remember maybe we did this butter making once a week.. not sure.. lots of time has elapsed.. but I see I am getting away from my main Janmashtami story..
Being thus associated with Krishna in the form of churning the butter, the only other thought of Krishna was his treatment of Kuselar. When Kuselar, a very, very, very poor man went to see his childhood friend he had nothing to take as a gift so he took with him Poha (Aval). Krishna so happy to see his beloved friend took one mouthful of the Poha and Kuselar was blessed with many riches though he was unaware of what was happening.. The message for me as a child was not the riches that Kuselar got but the love and affection with which he was received by his friend.
For me that put Krishna on an elevated platform in my mind. Every Janmashtami the whole deal at my home and at my in-laws was all the savory and other items made. For me that never brought home the love and affection that embodied Krishna and for some reason that was absent.
So one Janmashtami shortly after I was married , I found myself alone with hubby and decided to celebrate my way.
I made Poha , very simple dish ,which I made even more simpler and spent my time singing bhajans and chanting slokas remembering Krishna as he came across to me in my stories I had heard.
That evening, I still distinctly remember, a relative called on me. And during the course of the conversation asked me how my “Cheedai” and “Murukku” and Thattai etc came out. Here they assumed I cooked all these for Janmashtami. Imagine their shock when I said I only cooked Poha and that’s all I had served to God as prashad.
Before I knew it , this news had spread like wildfire. Those days we did not have a phone at home so the next chance my mother got to talk to me, she said she heard I had not made Cheedai and Thatai for Gokulashtami and told me I needed to learn this as fast as I can. Of course my mother-in-law’s reaction was not any different and I still remember some relatives commiserating with my MIL that I did not cook Cheedai and Thatai on that day.
I promptly changed after that. After that episode I cooked Cheedai and Thatai and Muruku too for others sake. On behalf of me, my Krishna always only got the simple Poha.
Inspite of my very simple treatment he came when I called.. (http://www.indusladies.com/forums/in...-you-came.html
Giving the link here to the reference to my story..)
So every Gokulashtami, I spend many days in advance going over the list of items to be cooked but in my heart I always know what I will offer to my beloved God. More than that ,I know God accepts even a small flower given with love. With God alone I feel it is truly the thought that counts.
Growing up, Krishna was one of my favorite Gods. Krishna always held a magical touch for me what with his love for Radha and his antics in eating butter.. I should say the fascination of that story was that he stole butter from his neighbors and when he did get caught.. his looks at his mother..
I also used to swirl the curds to get butter. In my home, a leg of a table was permanently entwined with strong ropes and all I needed to do was take my curd container to that spot. Curds were always kept in my home in what we called the “Bharani” which is a glossed earthen ware pot. Most of the time these pots had a standard color with the body of the pot being creamish color and the neck being a mild green, I think. Or maybe the neck was a mild brown. So I would take my pot and my standard “Mathu” which is a wooden stick, one end of it was rounded grooves so the constant swirling of the curds would in time yield butter.
Maybe I was given this task as our kitchen was always crowded with my mother and grandmother and any other relative who happened to be there. This job I could take it away from the kitchen area. Or maybe I was given this because I used to always be busy with studies.. Or maybe it was given because I was not good at other cooking jobs.. wait that is not true. The only other cooking job I was entrusted, on a daily basis, was using the “Ammi kal” which is a stone grinder. It was a flat bulky rectangular stone . In my home it was set into the countertop itself , on one end.
This big stone had a smaller stone sitting on top. This smaller stone was of the width of the big stone but was a movable object. So you placed coconut and other ingredients on top of big stone and then moved the small stone on forward and backward motion to grind the ingredients.
My grandmother was particular about the grinding consistency for different items. For sambhar she wanted coarse and for Thogaiyal less or no water and such.. But I digress..
So I used to swirl the curds to get my butter and would always smile fascinated by the butter forming in the bottom of my Mathu.
Before long lots of butter would have gathered up and then I will hand over the ceramic pot and mathu to my grandmother who would then clean it for me and then melt the butter to make ghee. If I remember maybe we did this butter making once a week.. not sure.. lots of time has elapsed.. but I see I am getting away from my main Janmashtami story..
Being thus associated with Krishna in the form of churning the butter, the only other thought of Krishna was his treatment of Kuselar. When Kuselar, a very, very, very poor man went to see his childhood friend he had nothing to take as a gift so he took with him Poha (Aval). Krishna so happy to see his beloved friend took one mouthful of the Poha and Kuselar was blessed with many riches though he was unaware of what was happening.. The message for me as a child was not the riches that Kuselar got but the love and affection with which he was received by his friend.
For me that put Krishna on an elevated platform in my mind. Every Janmashtami the whole deal at my home and at my in-laws was all the savory and other items made. For me that never brought home the love and affection that embodied Krishna and for some reason that was absent.
So one Janmashtami shortly after I was married , I found myself alone with hubby and decided to celebrate my way.
I made Poha , very simple dish ,which I made even more simpler and spent my time singing bhajans and chanting slokas remembering Krishna as he came across to me in my stories I had heard.
That evening, I still distinctly remember, a relative called on me. And during the course of the conversation asked me how my “Cheedai” and “Murukku” and Thattai etc came out. Here they assumed I cooked all these for Janmashtami. Imagine their shock when I said I only cooked Poha and that’s all I had served to God as prashad.
Before I knew it , this news had spread like wildfire. Those days we did not have a phone at home so the next chance my mother got to talk to me, she said she heard I had not made Cheedai and Thatai for Gokulashtami and told me I needed to learn this as fast as I can. Of course my mother-in-law’s reaction was not any different and I still remember some relatives commiserating with my MIL that I did not cook Cheedai and Thatai on that day.
I promptly changed after that. After that episode I cooked Cheedai and Thatai and Muruku too for others sake. On behalf of me, my Krishna always only got the simple Poha.
Inspite of my very simple treatment he came when I called.. (http://www.indusladies.com/forums/in...-you-came.html
Giving the link here to the reference to my story..)
So every Gokulashtami, I spend many days in advance going over the list of items to be cooked but in my heart I always know what I will offer to my beloved God. More than that ,I know God accepts even a small flower given with love. With God alone I feel it is truly the thought that counts.
Total Comments 27
Comments
 |  That is all God wants!Dear AC, I enjoyed this description of your relationship with Krishna..the reminiscences of your mother's kitchen made it all the more endearing! You are so right, God does not measure devotion by the number of delicacies made for him. In Kannada folklore, there is a story about a hunter (Kannappa) who worships Lord Shiva by offering him meat, because that is the only thing he has - selfless love is all God wants! I am sure your Poha turned out absolutely wonderful, after all, it was made with so much love for Krishna! God bless you and your family, Cheers, Sowmya |
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| |  Hi AC, God is not looking for any extrernal shosha! Your devotion is enough for him and he has already proved that to you. You gal have got such rich experience of the village, river beds, cards and now churning butter! You must be missing all that very much isn't it. It was a very nice description, can be taken as a scene for a "Krishna Leela" episode! Well, today I morning I had decided to try my hands on CHEEDAI. Was preparing myself with the recipe mentally, that I got a call from my friend saying "how about a weekend outside Mumbai". Now that I have planned my holidays and will be away from home during Janmashtami, I did not feel bad. I looked at him in the sky and said, "You are so worried about my back, that you did not want me to stand in the kitchen my favourite place for a long time. You are always great god, like a brother you are protecting me". Jai Sri Krishna! Enjoyed reading your blog and have added a piece of my feelings with the lord too. Hope you do not mind dearie. |
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| |  AC Dear, Read so many humorous blogs from you.......but Oh my...my... you are even much better in this emotional or would say spiritual accounts too. Good expression of love or I would better say devotion towards the Lord. You are so right in a way that cook savories for others sake because God has nothing to do with the quality of Prasad....he only sees the amount of love it carries. Loved your post. Regards. |
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| |  Kannappa i have heard about.. and at that time I was shocked about the meat story.. now i can understand.. does it mean I am getting old..hahaha.. Your reply is very heart warming Sowmya dear.. The pure love of the devotee.. that is all that God wants! Sometimes these facts are overlooked and we get caught up with material things.. Nice to hear your rendering on this subject :) |
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| | God is indeed protecting you from straining your back! I agree with you Mals dear.. I thoroughly enjoy reading your take on this topic... really outdoes mine! |
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| | Meets whenever you step in you brighten my day.. Enjoyed reading your comment.. Now I should pray God gives you more time so as to see you here more! |
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| | From Navaljee To Anandchitra Bhagawan Shree Krishna is the holder of ultimate knowledge, too. That is why his another name is Yogeswar. Whereas the name Radha is the reverse of the word dhara. We, all the humans live by using our energies outward, that is our regular dhara. But if we can convert that dhara (outward flow) inside and become a Radha (inward flowing energy), we are not very far from Bhagawan Shee Krishana. Jai Shree Krishna...  Navaljee  |
| Updated 22nd August 2008 at 12:15 AM by Navaljee |
| |  AC Dearie, Good one about krishna. remember discussing the same about offerings some time last year isn't it. time flies so fast. For me butter churning took me back to the days where I learnt to milk a cow along with learning to churn butter in mud pots that was kept specifically for the children in the family my GP for some time. I made the cheedai, thattai but all that has already been tasted by the krishna's at home. and I will be only giving poha, curds and butter. Afterall when kids are happy, krishna will also be happy. (that is my opinion) Navaljee, your explanation for dhara and radha is too logical and good to understand and explain to the kids just like for RAma. |
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| |  AC, Making me nostalgic about the butter churning, but i did it with a bottle.... My first Krishna Jayanthi....I offered only butter and sugar to Lord Krishna...because, I don't know how to make other snacks, in the first place... Pushpam, palam, thoyam...whatever is being offered to Him, with utmost devotion, He will accept it..only true devotion matters.. Navaljee, very nice explanation for Radha... and a nice picture of Radhe Krishna... sriniketan |
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| | Navaljee Thanks for the very beautiful picture of Radha and krishna.. This is really an exquisite pictures I have ever seen.. And a special thanks to your explanation of Radha.. After I read your words I share the thought that I am not very far from Bhagawan.. Your words remind me of my revered Ramanar who keeps repeating for one to look inside and ask the question who am I?. |
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| | Shanthi I too learnt to milk the cow.. I still remember I was so scared that the poor cow must have sensed it.. and refused to come near me or let me go near her.. haha.. one more thing in common.. Churning butter is really good exercise for the biceps and triceps I think! These days I engage in making the snacks ONLY for the krishna's at home:) |
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| | Bhargavi I am curious to know how its done in a bottle.. you mean repeated shaking of the bottle? Like you initial days not much knowledge of making all these great snacks.. but I guess we learn as we go! |
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| | From NavaljeeTo Ms. Shanvy and to Ms. Anandchitra I am happy to see that my taliikng about the meaning of the word Radha has generated so much interest. I am too happy that Ms. Sriniketan has also joined the discussion. The fact is that Krishna and Radha are indivisible parts of the human consciousness: they both are within us. There is no difference between man and woman so far as the soul is concerned. The word woman comprises two parts: Wo for womb and Man. So the man having a womb is woman. The word womb is also derived from Sanskrit origin of umb meaning garbhashay (the womb). That is why there is Amba word for woman in Sanskrit. So those who differentiate between man and woman are acutely poor in understanding. Navaljee |
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| | Navaljee, I was thinking one day, 'man' is also associated with woman in this word...wo---man...but silly i am to think of to woo- the man...that's what the world thinks..  Your explanation is very very good... the origin of the word and its meaning and the inner meaning for Radha and Krishna.. Very nice discussion, Sir... Enjoyed it... sriniketan |
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| |  Dear AC Madam, Enjoyed reading your words and enjoyed reading the comments of others too... I am too an ardent admirer of Sri Krishna, I love the pose of crawling Krishna with butter on his one hand !!! It is right infront of my eyes !! ... Enjoy celebrating Krishna Jayanthi/Janmasthami with lots of Murukkus/cheedais/thatais and what not... With regards and wishes to all, Gowri |
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| | Navaljee . thanks for taking the time to write.. never heard of the womb, man and woman for explanation... Please accept my thanks and my salutations over the internet.. |
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| | Gowri dear as always your presence is like a gentle breeze cheering me on.. and giving hope to writ emore:) getting ready to do cheedai etc.. what with the varalakshmi nonbu invitations.. nothing much is goin.. :) |
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| |  Dear AC You took me back with your butter churning days. I too was only capable of that task and the reward was fresh butter from grandma! I have done it with the mathu and ropes and later with the bottle. I preferred the ropes and mathu! I too am an ardent worshipper of Krishna since childhood. I used to admire a photo my father had of kaliyaMardhana Krishnar. My mom preserved it for many years and gave me recently. It reminded me of my childhood days. Enjoyed Navalji's explanation of Radha, Dhara, Womb and Amba very much. |
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| | Usha I can only imagine how beautiful the picture is of the Kaliya Mardhana Krishna.. Thanks dear.. I too preferred the Mathu method. BTW Navaljee is getting a strong FAN following with his explanations.. Thank you. |
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| |  Dear AC, Your blog was an absolute thrill to read. Took me back to the days when we would visit our relatives down south.The rectangular stone that you mentioned was something I loved to use when I was there. I hadto do some serious coaxing to my cousins to let me do the grinding work . I loved the experience. As fulfilling as drawing water from the wells. Today of course I look forward to the family Pooja to clebrate Janmashtami. The makhan mishri, the paalna(jhula) the hyms , bhajans. and ofcourse the payasums appams and wadas that mom prepares as part of the pooja "bhog". Lovely blog AC Love, Devika |
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Recent Blog Entries by Anandchitra
- Winter vegetables and more (2nd December 2008)
- Rama's Choice (25th November 2008)
- Come Catch me Fat Ghost (19th November 2008)
- Dare to Dream (12th November 2008)
- Shove from Nest (10th November 2008)
