A Ceremony For Every Milestone
My Indian neighbors had a "Name Thy Child" ceremony last weekend.
The crib where the baby will be displayed for all to see was placed in the middle of their living room and beautifully decorated with red and pink fabric.
Said baby was born a month ago and this ceremony is to officially name her.
Hmmmm….does that mean that for the past month the baby doesn’t have any name? How do you get her birth registered, then?
"No lah," Tai Mai said. Of course the normal procedures to register the birth and getting the birth certificate would have been done when the baby was born.
This ceremony is something like a grand launching of the baby’s name with official blessings from the temple priests and all that jazz.
Seems to me like the Indian community has a lot of ceremonies to commemorate each milestone in a person’s life.
There’s even one for a young girl’s first period.
According to Tai Mai, her matchmaking first date with her soon to be fiance was also done in full ceremony at the temple with blessings from the priests.
Now that was an interesting affair, according to her. Even in this day and age, a young lady was expected to act shy and demure like it was in the olden days and both parties are to be accompanied by their parents and other kay poh chee family members.
Her upcoming engagement will also be another grand affair. She will be fully decorated in a grand saree, finger tips colored with inai and hand decorated with henna.
That practically makes her married to her man already.
With so many celebrations in their lives, it’s no wonder that the Indian community is always associated with tradition, bright vibrant colors and festivities.
