Give it to me!

There is a Hindu tradition of falling at the elders feet to take their blessings during special events and occasions like birthdays, marriage, festivals etc. There is lot of history and science behind it. I will add some references in form of links later if you want to know about it. But what also happens is that once we fall at our elders feet and take their blessings, they give us some cash. No idea why and when that part of handing money became a part of the tradition. Cash in form of 10Rs note, when we were kids, which used to be a huge amount at that time. But that was only for our birthdays. For other events, it would be a 1Re coin or such. We were taught to save it or use it wisely. It has been so long since I have actually taken someone’s blessings by doing a pranama. But I don’t like people falling at my feet to take my blessings. During my brother’s & sister’s marriage when they were made to fall at my feet to take my blessings, I almost jumped a feet away. It felt so odd. That deed should not be done just because I am an year and half older than them. When I was at my brother’s place last time for my first niece’s birthday, she did her pranam to my parents (her grandparents) and was handsomely rewarded with cash. Seeing her get some money, my other niece and nephew also did the same and demanded cash. 😆 So when they were asked to do pranam /namaskaram (as we call it in Tamil) to me, I told them that it wasn’t necessary. ( I have had enough of people falling at my feet and not for the right reasons 😉 ) My second niece looked at me and said, that is alright, you can just give us the cash and get it over with then.

Some references:

Why Do We Touch The Feet Of Our Elders?

Touching Feet Of Elders: Mere Tradition or Science?

Science Behind Touching Feet In India

 

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Post for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “cash.” Use it in your post as a noun or a verb… or a name! Enjoy!

 

 

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