Child’s Play – Akshara Rajaram

Last year, it was Krishna. This year, the plan was for Radha. Also, her playschool had asked all girls to be dressed up as Radha and the guys as Krishna for their Janmashtami celebrations. Akshara wore a demo-version to school as it would have been too much to expect her to keep everything on during the 2 hours at school.

So, in the evening, before the official puja/snack time, Radha was up and ready! Akshara is now very comfortable before the camera and very accommodating with her poses, but she is on a world of her own when it comes to her expressions! The matka, which was given to each student in her playschool, was her favourite prop for the day.

Akshara wanted to take part in the Puja. My uncle was also here and he was the one doing the pooja. if you see the photo below, you will notice the change in times. The sloka was being read out from a downloaded text file on the laptop

With lot of snacks like Murukku, Cheedai, Mysore Pak etc being prepared and kept right in front of our eyes, it turned out to be too tempting for Akshara. But, mom said that kids are exempted from the naivedhyam-ritual for god and are allowed to bite-in anytime and this is particularly applicable for naivedhyams to Krishna! I will never grasp the complexity of the rules of all the rituals.

With mama, mami and my mom also in Pune, the traditional as well as the culinary aspects of Krishna Jayanti were experienced to the fullest.

written by Rajaram S