The "Na Karma" or 9th Day Rituals started on time at 9 O'Clock in the morning, thanks to the commendable punctuality of both the Purohit (Priest) and Barika (Barber). The 9th day Rituals were mostly a repeat of the 7th day Rituals, with few takeaways here and there. It was less hassle considering a lot of essential set up was done on the 7th day itself. Akin to building a stadium, once it is built and the first game is successfully staged, we have have a template set which makes it easier going forward.
In the meantime I have learnt how to wear a "DHOTI", a traditional white loincloth made up of cotton tied around the waist all by myself. It is most suitable for the sultry Indian summer. The traditional Indian attires of Dhoti for men and Saree for women are easy to wear and remove quickly when desired, compared to the Kurta/Salwaar Pyjama and Western attires. If worn properly worn one runs the risk of those coming off at the most inopportune moment. The inadvertent wardrobe malfunction can cause embarrassment in public.
Exactly same happened to my friend during his marriage. When he, as the groom, arrived at bride's place, few of his over excited buddies part of the "BARAATI" (The groom's companions) pulled the groome from the car to dance with them, hell bent on impressing the girls from the bride's side watching curiously the groom's arrival from sideline. The reluctant groom twisted his torso for a few steps when some one in the melee stepped over his "Dhoti's Kachha" (the fag end of the loincloth tucked behind). In the commotion that followed the entire Dhoti slipped out of the groom's waist without anyone noticing it.
Oblivious of the fact that one piece of the attire gone missing, the groom stepped out of his car in his underwear with only the Kurta on top to save his shame. Unfortunately he is a Brahmin who was getting married in broad daylight and pretty visible to the audience. When the groome noticed the girls giggling at him covering their mouth using one hand, he knew something was amiss. No sooner he discovered his semi naked state, than embarrassed, he ran into the safety and privacy of his car as someone went out to fetch another Dhoti. Glad I didn't have to go through all that.
There were lot of "JANDA" (Black 🐜 ants) crawling on the Puja (worship) venue where the 9th day "Kriya" was held in open. I had hard time shooing them away, trying my best not to let them enter into my Dhoti and being the cause of a scene for the onlookers at the nearby temple gaping at me and having the fun of watching me dancing on an elevated podium, with ants inside my pant. A video of the scene enacted would have got an instant million plus view on YouTube. I tried to be creative by putting some "MISRI" (Crystalline form of sugar) on a plate at one corner of the podium. The trick worked. All the black ants got diverted to the corner to sweeten their mouth without bothering me. The ritual continued without any further hindrance.
"Preta Purohit" (the Priest who performs death rituals) is different from the normal one who conducts ritual of marriage and thread wearing ceremony. Unlike those who perform auspicious Rituals and available dime a dozen, the ones doing death rituals are limited and are hard to find. The priests who indulge in the auspicious occasions go idle during the off season for marriages and thread wearing ceremonies, especially from July to November when they have no work. But the pundits doing death rituals are sought after throughout the year as people die all the time. Death doesn't has a time off period, can hunt you down at the most unexpected, inopportune moment.
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