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It was the day of Navreh. Deepak and his cousins could not hide their excitement. Ever since last evening when their family priest left the house, they could not control their curiosity. They saw the elders holding a religious almanac on a plate and could not stop wondering what else the thali (plate) could hold. But, the elders were not ready yet. They want to know more. Who can provide them with the detailed information?
Navreh
Deepak spotted their grandfather reading the newspaper. He and the gang decided "Grandpa got the whole day to read the paper, we can simply ask him. He will know more."
The gang of five little boys, all dressed in new kurta pyjama surrounded their grandfather. The little one asked, "Where is the thali, Grandfather? Can I see what else is in there?"
Grandfather replied, "Oh, just wait for a little. We will all have a good look at everything in the thali. This is what the day is all about."
Deepak enquired, "What do we do with the thali today? Is there any aarti?"
Grandfather replied, "No... no, today is Navreh. It is the Kashmiri New Year. We, Kashmiri Pandits, perform this ritual every year on the first day of the Chaitra month. We pay homage to our Goddess Sharika during this festival."
Just then, Deepak's mother called for them. Everyone joined the other members of the family. The thali was placed at the center of the table. The cloth over the thali was gradually removed.
The kids noticed a silver coin, a gold bangle, two almanacs, a photo of a deity, a calendar, some rice, salt, currency notes, bread, walnuts, wye herb, a few blades of grass, a mirror, and a paper and pen! Every member of the family took turns to look at all the items in the thali.
Everyone takes a walnut each in their hands and leaves the house. The kids thought they were going sightseeing, but their car stopped by in the banks of a nearby river. Grandfather gets off the car and looks at the walnut, murmurs something, and throws the walnut into the flowing river. The other elders do the same.
Grandfather went near to the kids and said, "Ask for God's blessings and say “Thank You“ to the Gods and then throw the walnut into the river."
This was new for the kids. They do as they are told and get back in the car. The gang was now seated with grandfather and they were bursting with questions. One asked, "Why did the thali have a pen?" Grandfather calmly replied, " Each object in the thali has a motive. The rice and the coins represent our daily bread. We cannot live without food, right? Also, money helps us to buy food. Therefore they are present in the thali. The paper and pen mean our thirst for knowledge. Just like now, you want to know more about what we are doing today. Quest for knowledge is very important for our existence. The mirror means retrospection. It's how we see ourselves." He continues, "The image of Sharika and the calendar stands for "constant" and "change" respectively. It shows that change is the only constant in life. The wye herb and the grasses taste bitter. This means that our life will have bitterness, and we need to move ahead along with the bitterness of life."
The kids are listening to their grandfather attentively. Deepak suddenly pops a question, " Who was that Goddess? Is she Lakshmi? Did I pray to Goddess Lakshmi?"
"No, dear," answered Grandfather.
"She is Goddess Sharika. The Kashmiri Pandits worship her on the day of the New Year or Navreh. We believe that our Saptarishi year began 5079 years ago, on the day of Navreh. At that time, the Saptarishi gathered on the Sharika Parvat or the Hari Parvat. Even the first rays of the sun paid homage to her on the Hari Parvat. It's a beautiful place. You will see it when we reach there."
The kids got excited again. They are going sightseeing that too with their wise grandfather. Once they reached there, Deepak noticed his mother handing over a large bowl of yellow rice to the priest. Grandfather already knew a question was about to come his way. So, he spoke to the kids. "This is turmeric rice. We made this at home to offer to the Goddess. Today, we are here to thank her for the past year and seek blessings for the upcoming year."
Together with the rest of the family, the kids kneeled before the Goddess at the temple. Deepak silently thanked God for everything he had, specially asked her blessings over his grandfather who just won his heart by narrating in detail the customs of Navreh. He asked forgiveness to the Goddess for ruining his grandfather's newspaper reading time but also promised that the gang will not disturb grandfather after they reach home.
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