Saraswathi poojai and Aayutha Poojai

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The letter aayutham ஃ

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Saraswathi Poojai

பாலும் தெளிதேனும் பாகும் பருப்புமிவை
நாலும் கலந்துனக்கு நான் தருவேன் கோலம்செய்
துங்கக் கனிமுகத்து தூமணியே நீ எனக்கு
சங்கத்தமிழ் மூன்றும் தா.

(I don't know whether I remember this song correct. so please correct me, if any of you know this song).

There is a pile of packed books in front of Saraswathi. One of them is mine. She gives knowledge and intelligence. She can make me clever. She holds veena, the music instrument, and wears white saree. I don’t know whether veena has got any link with knowledge. Saraswathi has four hands. She holds books, well, palm leaves in one of those hands. That is what my teacher told me that she is the Goddess of knowledge. “I will offer you mixing all the four best things, viz. milk, clear honey, cane-sugar-jaggery, and lentils. Please give me all the three Tamils of Sangam in return”. I open my eyes. Look at the Goddess. She looks very peaceful to me. “Go, go, go… stand in the queue. Sundal (chickpea, with desiccated co-conut) is being served. I stand in the queue. I stretch out my right hand, to receive sundal. I hold my right hand with my left hand. It is respect you know. Anything you do with God and Goddesses, you have to do with respect. Some paper from somewhere, comes flying, falling right at my foot. Oh no. I think my foot has touched that paper. I bend to apologise to that paper. I feel guilty. No man, not on the day of Saraswathi poojai!! My foot has touched the paper which is associated with knowledge and hence associated with Saraswathi. I apologise to that paper and immediately pick it up from there. I can’t throw. It is Goddess. I keep it inside my shirt pocket. I wipe my hands and stretch out to receive sundal. I hold my right hand with left hand.

பாலும் தெளிதேனும் பாகும் பருப்புமிவை
நாலும் கலந்துனக்கு நான் தருவேன் கோலம்செய்
துங்கக் கனிமுகத்து தூமணியே நீ எனக்கு
சங்கத்தமிழ் மூன்றும் தா.
“I will offer you mixing all the four best things, viz. milk, clear honey, cane-sugar-jaggery, and lentils. Please give me all the three Tamils of Sangam in return”.

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Aayutha Poojai

"Lathamma, come here. there is pongal (rice pudding if it is sweet pongal, and white rice like risotto if it is just pongal) here for you”. There were few plates of pongal from our neighbours and relatives. each plate has some pongal, a small piece of banana and a small piece of coconut in it. some plates have sweet pongal as well. "Why don't we celebrate aayutha poojai? we could have also given to them". I want to go around and distribute pongal in small plates to all my neighbours like my friends did. "We are not farmers anymore. we do not own shop. What do we have to keep as "aayutham" to worship today?". Yes, she is right. It is necessary to have something as “aayutham”, after all it is aayutha poojai. What aayutham do we have? I don’t think we have anything anymore. What about that saal (old style of water-lifting tool, that was used to lift water from wells, used in irrigation. It was normally operated by two bulls). “We do have aayutham. But it is not used anymore. See, that saal is with so many holes, it won’t lift any water if used today. It is an insult to God if we keep that in worship”. She is right. I apologise to God, Aayutha god, for even thinking of insulting. “what about my pen? Can I keep that in worship?” “Didn’t you have pooja for knowledge yesterday? Your pen is covered in that”. Oh yes. She is right!! I go and eat pongal from one of those plates. All my friends are enjoying distributing pongal. I am stuck here eating it. What a looser I am.