This age of ours

I didnt come yesterday as I was feeling sick. Bad cough, sore throat, temperature. Wouldnt have come today too but since I had a copy to edit for today's pages, decided to come.
Slept much of yesterday but had to go out for a mini-Manjal Neeratu ceremony in the flat below. The young girl there had reached puberty or "attended age" as the local parlance is. Tamilians find it a big occasion for celebration. Apparently they will have a big function a few month later - almost like a wedding with lots of guests and the girl decked up in wedding-like finery. In olden days, it must have been a way of announcing that a girl had reached marriageable age but today it looks embarassing. In many parts of India it is still a big affair and one to look forward to.
Anyway I had to felicitate the kid like a few other married ladies there - another neighbour, the watchman's wife and 2 servant maids apart from the girl's mother and great granny (who thought it was a matter of luck that she was alive to take part) - by applying on her face and forearms sindoor, sandalwood paste, and sprinkling rosewater and jasmine flowers on her head. The girl looked irritated as she made her appearance in a yellow silk sari and maroon blouse (I guess it was her first time in a sari) with water dripping from her hair. She was made to circle the lamp and assorted puja items before being allowed to sit.
The guests got tea and snacks after the function, while the girl was shooed back to her room. Seems she wont be allowed to step out much from there for the next five days. She will also skip school - since these things are the norm here, teachers take to it kindly, I guess. The folks did explain some of the rituals including the stuff she will be made to eat in the coming days, but I didnt exactly follow much of the conversation in Tamil. I came off with a dakshina of betel leaf, banana, turmeric and supari and jasmine flowers.

P.S. Mira is catching a cold too. Ash skipped school on Friday as somebody hurt his cheeks (from his gestures) and he was finding it difficult to take anything except milk. Mom said he was sobbing after we called one night recently. He doesnt sleep until very late in the night, missing us more when we call at night.