Originally, my life was
supposed to have only no-school years.
As
mentioned earlier, my education was supposed to be only Vedas, Rituals etc. Grandpa
wanted me to grow up under his strict supervision. He woke up at 4 am every day
and would wake me up and take me along to the family pond to take bath. After
the bath, I will wait as Grandpa was doing all the rituals.
I
was too young to do all those rituals but Grandpa probably wanted me to observe
and learn something from those. I do not know what I actually learnt from those
rituals, but I definitely got the habit of waking up at around 4 am.
After
the rituals were over I used to go to the classes where Malu Teacher used to
teach my aunts.
When
I was about to turn 7 I had my Upanayanam. After the Upanayanam there were a lot
of rituals to be done. Upanayanan is a significant milestone in the life of a
Nambudiri. Theorically that is when the education of a Nambudiri boy starts. He
also starts wearing the sacred thread poonool and starts learning, or rather
reciting ‘Vedas’. My Grandpa will read the Rigveda line by line and I would
repeat it after him.
After
a few years of completing various stages of learning, there is another
milestone which is called samavartanam. That is when one becomes a Nambudiri
and would be ready for the advanced education. Again it was continuing learning
of Vedas, Mantras, Rituals, Methods or kriyas of getting different things like
Poojas, marriages and many other rites done.
The
rituals of Upanayanam started very early in the morning and continued till
afternoon. At the end of it, I acquired a Poonunool (the sacred thread) and
krishnanjanam, (a belt worn just like the Poonunool). I had learnt the mantras
to be recited everyday during dawn and dusk,
the pranavam, the gayatri, Aanobhadram. I learnt also to do chamata, a ceremony to be performed in
mornings and evenings.
At
the beginning and end of practically everything that you do, you pray to God
and there are mantras and rituals for it. In this phase of Brahmacharyam, we
are supposed to beg for our food, even if it is from own house, given with love
by our mother. So, the meals would start with a request to mother or anybody
else who serves you, 'Bhavathi Bhiksham Dehi'. (Please give me alms).
As
mentioned earlier, lots of privileges were lost. The rituals in the mornings included an
elaborate bath at the end of which, I take water in both the palms and give as
offering to god. Then came reciting pranavam, Gayathri, Aanobhadram etc. and
then chamata. The whole thing should take about an hour. Or more, if Grandpa
was supervising.
Then
comes breakfast, after which I would sit with Grandpa and recite Rigveda for an
hour. Then I am free to play and this is the time I would rush to teacher and
instead of in her lap, I would sit next to her. 'You have become a big boy now.
See, your brother will start laughing at you', was the usual ploy to avoid my
rushing to her lap.
But
luckily when I was around 8, my Grandpa allowed me to go to school, with a lot
of persuasion from my uncle.
One
high point of my first year of schooling was the drama. The school every year
celebrated the annual day and there were cultural programs by children and
teachers. There were dances by girl students, some traditional folk arts by
boys and in the end there would be a drama by students and then a drama by
teachers.
I
was selected for the drama. I don't exactly remember the story, but I remember
that I acted as an old man from a lower caste. I did not tell anyone about it
because if Grandpa came to know about it, there was every possibility that my
schooling would end there. Somehow the next day after the programme, he came to know of it, probably
through servants. The only comment he made was, ‘At least they should have made
him an old ‘Nambudiri !'
Sorry, I just crossed over to my ‘school days’.
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