We had called a priest, from the nearby temple to perform the function along with shudhi of the house on the 10th day after her birth.
In fact, we had the naming ceremony thrice as "BhagyaLakshmi", "VasanthaLakshmi" and "Sahasra". The priest was a little baffled to have to do the proceedings thrice, for the same child. As traditions go (as per my mother), a girlchild should get her grandmother(s) name and boy child his grandfather(s) name.
My mother in law, changed the custom a little by changing the name of the child as VasanthaLakshmi instead of VaraLakshmi(her name) as she thought the name suited the child better.(Child born on start of Vasantha rithu).
Sahasra, means 'New Beginning' and not 'Thousand' as many speculate. In fact, it was a little test for us parents to search for a name, which is neither common nor old fashioned but simple to tell and has some good meaning. Not sure, how much we succeeded in our test.
From my side, my only consideration was that she should not have a name starting with alphabet A, thereby having to be first among the roll numbers in school.
After seeing the initial photos, my father was very happy with the technology which made him see the photos of his grandchild the next day itself, when during olden days, he had to wait for more than a day to see his own daughter, though born in the same country.
1 comment:
Mami says, your post made her feel as good as being there in London (without having to get visa and pay airfare). Your description of the 'how' and 'why' of naming the child was educative.
Maybe, you could have added a fottnote - explaining how you call her when. I suppose Sahasra would gain a pet name before long. You know your mother's petname was 'Kikki'.
Mami says, you might have to mention all her names at the time of her wedding.
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