Saturday, March 6, 2010
by Sunrita
There is a custom of tying a thread round the wrist and applying a red tika followed by few grains of rice on the forehead of guests.
I was summoned to do this act of greeting-the-guest, for the CEO of Mart, Mr Pradeep Kashyap.
It was for the very first time that I even set my eyes upon a thali containing the Roli-Moli. It is a decorated small thali containing two tiny round containers – one filled with a red wet tika and the other had rice, it also had a huge roll of red-yellow thick and strong thread and ofcourse sweets. The moment Jyoti, my assistant for the occasion was given the tray, the guest arrived. I did not even get a chance to ask HOW it was to be done…
Luckily… all these years of hindi cinema viewing came to my rescue but there was still a HUGE problem. There was no way that thick thread would or possibly could be torn by me. Luckily Dheera, a Punjabi girl was nearby(very near actually) She helped me by tearing a small enough piece out of that scarily thick thread roll, while our guest was buzy greeting seniors from the management.
Finally, he faced me. My hands trembled as I dipped my thumb in the red tika pot. I applied it on his forehead. There was almost no visible red sign there. I wasn’t sure whether the rice grains would at all stick on that negligible little red mark. Nevertheless, I tried and to my utter relief, two grains decided to stare back at me from his forehead. I finished by tying the thread around his wrists.
“My Blessings for you”, smiled Mr.Kashyap.
My still trembling hands folded into a Namaste and “Thank You”.
Phew!! Singing in front of a packed auditorium is easier. Atleast you get to practice and you most definitely are informed well in advance.
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