Monday, April 28, 2008
A mother's blessing
This weekend, my mother threw me a Bengali ceremony called shaadh ("my mother's wish") to bless both her expectant daughter and her unborn grandaughter, and to wish for a successful and healthy delivery. She prepared a variety of delicious dishes for me to eat and invited my husband, father, mother-in-law and sister-in-law. My mother toasted both me and the "Little Gem" inside of me and then we feasted on: rohu fish; curried cauliflower; mixed vegetable chorchori with red leaves (lal sag), pumpkin, baby aubergines and Indian green beans (shim); channa dal with coconut and sultanas; dahi ghost - lamb stewed in a spicy yoghurt sauce; tomato chutney; and ladoos and son papri for dessert. It was simply wonderful. Thank you Ma!
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6 comments:
Wow it sounds like a beautiful ceremony. Hope you and the little gem are doing well
Especially intrigued by the lal sag. I've never had this before. Hope you and bPH are doing well! Waiting for some pics of the house! xoxo BB
That sounds like a lovely tradition - and what a meal! Did the baby like it? Was there a lot of action from her as you tasted all these yummy things?
Traditionally, Chinese new mums celebrate the birth of their babies one month after, with a big celebratory meal (usually out in a restaurant because by then no one wants to be organising a dinner party for 30!) and lots of hardboiled eggs dyed red, for luck and continued fertility. The iron and minerals in eggs are good for new mums too.
Were there any superstitions you were told about pregnancy? My mother has a list so long, I can't begin to recount them! Among the things pregnant women should and shouldn't do include going to the zoo (No), eat sweet black sesame paste (Yes - to ensure glossy black hair for the baby), eat bananas (No - Christ knows why not), find a good female Indian GP (Yes - that's a must!)
wow, what a feast! we will be waiting eagerly to hear news of little ph.
We bought the lal sag frozen from an Indian shop. This is what it is.
Yes, the baby seemed to enjoy the food - she certainly was active throughout but that could also have been all the peoples' voices around her.
There are quite a few Bengali pregnancy and birth traditions, but this is the first one we did for Little Planet and me.
Ah what a sweet and happy thing - ceremonies can give life events so much more meaning. All the more special when an only child blesses parents with grandchildren...
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