Portent

One of the things I love about living in London is the multi-cultural atmosphere. Yes, I know it creates some problems, but overall London is like an enormous melting-pot where people from all over the world live their lives together and accept each other’s differences. You can experience things here that you’d rarely come across unless you spent all your time travelling the world.

Last weekend I had the honour of attending a Manjhal Neeratu Vizha, a Tamil puberty ceremony. It was like stepping into the world of Jane Austen, but all the Lizzies and Janes at this party were wearing beautiful saris and expensive jewellery. The idea was the same though. A young girl is introduced to society. Her days as a child are officially over, and now she needs a good husband so that she can continue to bring joy to her family.

The celebration serves the purpose of letting people know that the girl is available for marriage. In rich families this ritual is celebrated almost like a wedding. It goes on for two weeks, and ends in a big party. On the first day the girl is given a turmeric bath by female family members. She is then isolated for two weeks and fed a rich diet. After the isolation period she is given another turmeric bath and goes through a mock wedding. It is a joyous occasion for the family. The final ceremony, that I attended, is meant to counteract evil influences.

My daughter and I were the only white people out of 250 guests at this ceremony. We arrived to the school where the party was held and were met by a big statue of Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god who so revered his parents that he called them his whole world. A line of beautifully dressed girls greeted all guests and put a yellow and a white bindi on our foreheads. Then we got a little box of sweets and snacks to eat whilst waiting for the celebration to begin. When the girl and her family arrived in a limousine, all the young girls and the female family members walked in procession up the red carpet that led to the scene.

The girl was dressed in a beautiful sari, had a golden veil, and she was wearing a lot of gold. The other girls in the procession were carrying flowers, and the women had trays laid out with ritual gifts like coconut, fruit, sweet meat, mango leaves, seeds, oils, rice etc, all in odd numbers. At the stage, the girl entered her throne and the gifts were placed around her. All the guests were then treated to a big feast with nine different dishes. Most of them hot, but all absolutely delicious!

Throughout the ceremony I think I got as much attention as the girl we were celebrating. People were staring and pointing at me. They loved that I was wearing the bindi, and they were over the moon when I ate their food with tears running down my cheeks.

After the meal I was led onto the stage to have my pics taken together with the young girl, and then she gave me a present. I got a bag with a traditional oil lamp, an orange and some mango leaves. As I made my way back it struck me how fortunate I was to have been invited to this ceremony.

It’s not every day you get to go to Tamil Nadu (south India) on a Sunday afternoon.

//Evalena