Patotsav

I took this picture at a community gathering in Vadodara yesterday. The Nagar Mandal of Alkapuri had organised a gathering to celebrate the birthday of the patron Lord Hatkeshwar (an avatar of Shiva). The Nagars are a small community of Gujarati brahmins who were typically aristocrats in the king's court. Till date, few Nagars venture into business. Most prefer to be professionals and have made their mark in the fields of education, civil services, medicine and law. The festival, called Patotsav is organised by the Nagars for the Nagars. This is an annual event where community elders also keep a note of prospective matches for marriages. The puja ceremony is followed by a dinner (paid for by the members of the mandal because the community doesn't have much money like other Gujarati business communities). The menu was again very typically Nagar cuisine - lehesuniya bateta (potatoes in garlic gravy), puris, Mango delite (an aamras-like sweet dish made of mango pulp), shaak (bhindi), dal and pickles and chhaas. The gathering is also the place where people discuss the five features that define Nagars:
1. Good looking women
2. Patla or a stool
3. Paan or betel leaf
4. A half-dhoti
5. Gossip

The gathering reminded me of the ones organised by Durgabari Samitis during Durga Puja. I wouldn't be surprised if I was the only non-Gujarati around (there were some non-Nagars there) and I am most certain that I was the only Bengali around. I looked around for familiar faces, when I spotted this woman doing the dishes. She was perched atop a pile scrubbing a steel vessel as rivers of sludge gathered around her feet. She hitched her saree and petticoat up and went on with her chores, oblivious to the conversations all around. She saw me taking this picture and tried to straighten up (that explains the blur). She too stood out in the crowd.