The plate
used for worshipping had a burning lamp, some bright red flowers, yellow and red powders – the haldi
and kumkum, and a bowl of semolina pudding.
The lady of
the house covered her head with her sari pallu and gently requested the little
girls to sit in a row. Then, turn by turn, she worshipped each of them as the
incarnation of the goddess. It was the festival of Dussehra which celebrates the triumph of good over evil.
Firstly she
washed their tiny feet and drew patterns on them with red colour. Then she applied the haldi and kumkum
to their foreheads and fed them the sweet pudding. Lastly she gave them the
bright red flowers and touched their feet in adoration.
The girls
watched with wide eyes and felt privileged. They felt like goddesses.
They would
carry these memories for a lifetime and learn to treat other girls as goddesses
too. They would realise that each of them had the power of Goddess Durga.
(Many
thanks to Deepti, Pooja, Usha, Muthu, and Yamini for making our girls feel so
special by your unique regional ways of worship. They will always feel proud to belong to a country with rich cultural
traditions.)
