Jamai Shasti
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May I confide .. I miss Bern. Long since I've heard from him on FB or PP. Anyway, I hope he is well. The custom of "Jamai Shasti" may be also aptly named "Son-in-Law's Day" This custom or culture is perhaps confined to West Bengal.Who knows. I'm too lazy right now to do Internet Travel. In any case what do I care ... Both my parents-in-law are dead long ago so Jamai Shasti Day makes me feel a little wistful. But I can't turn back time.
From my scanty knowledge may I paint a picture of this interesting day which this year was on Friday 10th June.My cook & maid both took a day's leave on the occasion. Actually , I've not written prose for quite some time so maybe it is something like a pendulum. From past to present & back.Okay.. here I pick up the nice shiny pointed nail & a nice strong handled hammer. Hit !!!!
In the 40's Son in laws sometimes went to their in-laws in bullock carts with their saree clad wives and small children. Let me try to tell you what they carried with them. A huge earthen pot of curd, plenty of home-made sweets, fruits of the season, one or two huge fish & a set of clothes for the entire family at the in-laws. It was quite taxing on the part of the son-in-law [ women didn't work in 1940's] The clothes of the couple & their children were stiff with new starch & very very uncomfortable in the hot sweaty Bengal summer.
Thatched mud house welcomes them with brass tumblers of cool drinking water accompanied by a mound of home-made sweets & over two pounds of fruits. The wife has in the meantime scurried indoors and having a good time. Her starched hubby sits stiff trying to engage in polite conversation with the mother who frequently smelt of betel-nuts and cheap scent. Yes. She has taken care to wash herself well in the village pond & dressed nicely for the occasion. The "son" is treated like a VVIP. As you know postcards were the only communication in the 40's and many were missed in transit.So this is the time when a plethora of news & gossip is shared by all & sundry.
Lunch... a huge mound of steaming rice with oodles of ghee,fried hilsa fish eggs, hilsa fish, jumbo prawn curry, a huge head of fist followed by spicy curried mutton & mango chutney. Lunch was incomplete without sweet curd & sweets. A long post lunch siesta followed. Dinner was luchis and mutton curry with ripe mangos & a tall glass of cow's milk. Breakfast of jack-fruit & puffed rice & the couple is on their way back home.
2016.. Friday is a working day. The lunches are scheduled for Sunday afternoon at reputed hotels preceeded by alcoholic drinks.Food is often Chinese, Thai,Continental, Moglai including the flesh of all edible creatures. The couple and their in-laws meet at the hotel itself dressed in suits and sarees. Gifts are exchanged. Lunch eaten & the whole "occasion" is over in two hours. Something like a surgical procedure which has to be done to keep relationships healthy.
Jamai Shasti
I have known about Jamai Shasti a lot after reading this wonderful piece of writing. Thank you so much for sharing. :)
OparerBondhu Dhonnobad
Onek kichu mathay ashchilo. Khub interesting byapar. Hapoy Ramazan
©bishu
It Sounds Fabulous
A celebration promoting family unity. Enjoyed the festivities. Thanks for the sharing. Like Thanksgiving, food is plentiful.