Ashirvad

My family, like so many others, dedicates the second day of the year to the traditional visits to relatives and more specifically to elders. We go and seek for their blessings, tell them that they are not forgotten and remind them about the importance of the guidance they provide us with.

It always warms my heart when my Poupou and Poupa place their hands on my head and whisper 'ashirvad' when I say 'pranam' to them. More than the gesture, it's the way they look at us that moves me, the love and sincerity they put in those very words of blessings. Getting blessed by elders feels like an act of purification to me, it drowns me with the illusion that my sins and flaws are being washed away and urges me to want to become a better person. It feels comforting and adds value to one's little existence. I suddenly tell myself that this is how I would want to behave towards my grandchildren if or when I grow very old one day.

My Poupou and Poupa will be celebrating their 66th wedding anniversary at the end of this month.
They are respectively 86 and 89 years old and Poupou Jyoti still cooks her special pehras when she knows I will be coming. They have always been my favorites of hers and I believe it's her way of bestowing me with her affection.