For those soon-to-be mums and their mummies and all the busybody girls/ladies like me, here’s a special post about the traditional baby shower event (Indians know this as ‘Seemantham’/‘Valaikappu’).
A few weeks back we had the opportunity to be part of a really nice traditional baby shower thanks to a dear neighbouring family whose daughter is to be a mum soon. The event was held at a temple. A lot of people do it at home too, but it depends on the expected turnout. The priest said that temples are becoming more popular for the event in recent years.
There were prayers – poojas that seek God’s blessings for the mom-to-be and her child, followed by the blessing ceremony by parents and kith and kin, friends, acquaintances etc. The highlight of the blessing ceremony was the part of adorning the mum-to-be with lots of colourful, glass bangles. There are many scientific reasons why bangles – from vibrations to health to psychology – but we all know that the ritual is aimed at ensuring a smooth pregnancy and birth. Another highlight is the preparation of 5 or 7 rice dishes namely tamarind rice, sweet rice, coconut rice, yoghurt rice etc to be served during the prayers and for the guests afterwards. Actually, upon invitation for the event, I was kind of stuck on what to bring for the occasion, and after some consultation with a few friends, concluded that the best gifts to bring are (a mix and match of the below):
- Glass bangles that fit the mum-to-be
- Jasmine/rose flowers
- Fruits such as grapes/mangoes
- Traditional sweets (laddu, jelebi, palkova etc)
- Traditional body care items such as turmeric, shikakai and sandalwood powders
- Saree
- Lots of diamond jewellery (if you are the husband of the mum-to-be). Just joking.
We don’t actually give baby related gifts (something I learnt later) though for western-style baby showers, baby gifts are the norm. The traditional baby shower puts more focus on the mum-to-be, and I personally feel that the gathering of people in mum’s homeplace is a sign that the support network is getting ready to receive a newborn, which for modern working mums is the biggest comfort factor (again, fathers-to-be, please take note!).
Anyway, we did some photography at the event, as a general guidance for those who have not been to one recently. We had a good time, the buffet lunch was awesome and we had the chance to meet some new people! And I must say that the return gift idea was brilliant – brocade material that can be used for some nice tops/saree blouse.
Here are some pictures which zoom in into the gifts.
