still searching for a ‘chandmama’
the moon was my ‘chandmama’
my ma sang me so,
chand ~ moon
mama ~ ma’s brother
on nights when the moon was silvery bright,
she would sing to chandmama to come and put a ‘teep’ on my forehead.
teep ~ a bindi,
children, traditionally, would have a ‘kajol’ teep put on foreheads,
kajol ~ kohl based
to keep the evil away.
when I was a little older,
I learnt of the old woman on the moon
who never stopped working on her spinning wheel
all I had to do was to get the right tilt of my head, and there she used to be
with one small step of (a) man,
all folklores I grew up with were shattered
overnight the moon became a barren piece of rock,
a giant nightlamp, helpless, trapped into a spin eternal around earth
many moons have gone by since
the myths broken
the old woman long forgotten,
except on cloudless moonlit nights, when I can almost hear my ma’s voice
I read India too is joining in the giant leap of mankind
but will they be looking for our ‘chandmama’,
forever preparing ‘kajol teeps’
for little children?
Earthpal said this on October 25th, 2008 at 18:23
I love this post Little Indian. When I was a little girl I used to believe there was a man on the moon. Not a space-man, a man that belonged on the moon. I could actually see his face and he knew I was looking at him. Childhood imagination huh.
Some people believe that the moon phases affect our moods. I once read that the word ‘lunacy’ comes from temporary madness believed to be related to the phases of the moon. I’m not so sure about all that but it’s convenient to blame the moon for my monthly mood swings now and then. Lol.
There is a real beauty in the moon.
nikita said this on October 26th, 2008 at 21:40
Nice entry! When I was little we said there was a man on the moon selling pumpkins! 🙂 from the Southern Hemisphere, you can see some kind of “pattern” that looks like donkey ears..if your sight is good..lol! and the man was on a “cart” …or some said he was selling cheese… 🙂
Bendtherulz said this on November 22nd, 2008 at 11:11
very beautiful -just takes you back to past…uncomplicated life…**sigh**
How are you doing??
Byeee -tk care ~~
littleindian said this on November 23rd, 2008 at 21:50
Hi stranger,
yes, life was indeed uncomplicated –
we are making it so – day by day, minute by minute …
MS CUTE PANTS said this on December 1st, 2008 at 02:38
Oh My! You just made me remember a LONG FORGOTTEN song… The Chandamama Song. Thank you! And now I shall go and try to remember it as I learned it many eons ago.
littleindian said this on December 1st, 2008 at 20:18
I too have forgotten the song, if you remember the words, would you mind sharing?