In the true spirit of Basant Panchami, the sun God shone bright today as a group of us gathered on the terrace of our music teacher’s home to pay our respects to Goddess Saraswati. A simple set of activities that involved a puja, some cooking on the terrace, dishes brought in by members of the music group and the rendition of some short music pieces made for a morning well spent. Smiling, radiant faces were what we had to show for and and immense sense of satisfaction. The adults present compared rituals and reminisced about how these occasions were celebrated in their childhood. I was particularly interested to see the children sit out patiently through a two hour puja to receive blessings from the Goddess and their guru at the end of it. Aadyaa’s formal initiation into the world of letters was an unplanned bonus. Here are a few pics!

Ma Saraswati, we hope, will grant us better music, better learning this year

An enthusiastic bunch getting set for a puja surrounded in a typical Gurgaon-esque urban setting

The kids had a different sort of fun experience

Aadyaa was formally initiated into learning- she, of course, thought she could teach us a lot!

The yellow saris and beautiful voices added some extra zing

Some of us had our mind on the food being cooked, which ultimately was consumed with great satisfaction!

Going back to learning music has given me friends, purpose and a better bonding with my family