It’s ‘Vinayak Tchoram Ti Aathwaar‘ and it’s not ‘Vinayak tchoram ti aathwaar‘ because 4th of this month is missing in Kashmiri calender. How do dates go missing? Don’t ask me! ‘Vinayak tchoram ti aathwaar‘ is my exact birthday and not my angreez birthday, which according to Georgian calender is 22nd.
It is Aathwaar, Sunday, today and it’s Ganesh Chaturthi all over India but today is 3rd. 4th, tchoram, is missing. Based on my own personal calculation,’Vinayak Tchoram Ti Aathwaar‘ (real one) comes once every eleven years or so. I have some distant uncles who, instead of saying my name, just exclaim, ‘Vinayak tchoram ti aathwaar!’ whenever, every odd year, we meet. My folks stopped ‘giving’ Punn with my birth . It would have been difficult to manage two things. Yeah I like that old Dung-Roth-Gold story for the day. Which reminds me, is His birthday also missing? O’ Doesn’t matter. But my birthday is ‘missing’ this year. Okay, not entirely missing as the ‘Morning Birthday Pooza‘ has been moved to 3rd. So the birthday is on treyum. How do dates move? Don’t ask me! How do birthdays go missing? Don’t ask me! Must be a celestial mystery. It can all become very confusing. How does one keep track? I get phone calls. Just like I get phone calls on 8ths, Aaethams (How many of them are there in a month anyway?). Don’t eat this. Don’t eat that. Okay. (But I do eat that sometimes)
So again, how can a Birthday go missing. Explain that to my defiant body cells. Receding hairline. White, that started years ago. Is that a belly? Crazy nostril hair. Is that a hair in my ear? A single strand of hair. A bouin. What does it think? Yeh Shadipur nahi, Kanpur hai! Stop. They must have made some mistake at Vicharnag, all they do is talk and drink Kehwa, instead they should be doing some Vichar–Vimarsh and cross checking their numbers. Recalculate the dates, match calculations, get on line and tell me, ‘Tchoram cha Raawaan?’ Is 4th missing?
-0-
Ignore.
-0-
Hi Vinayak, I became a subscriber here just last week. I really enjoy your blog–for two reasons. I am a Kashmiri too and you write so well. I came by your blog while researching for information on Kashmiri Pandits and '98/99.
By the way, Happy Birthday–or, Belated Happy Birthday ! God Bless!
Minakshi W.
Thanks Minakshi! And hope you enjoy your future visits too. I did notice you name in my email subscriber list a couple of days ago. A quick Google search later, I quietly admired your poems and paintings ( Poems: Here and
Here). Really great stuff!
Vinayak
Wohurwod mubarakh…
BTW… the birthday goes missing even in Georgian calendar – if one is born on 29th Feb :-)..
The good part is – you can claim that you didnt grow a year older this year 🙂
BTW,… yr folks didnt really have to stop giving Punn – coz Punn can be given on several other days during the 2 weeks following Vinayak chorum too… Maybe they had vowed to give Punn only to be bestowed with you…so the wish had already been fulfilled.
Thanks!
I think they just wanted to save money for wohuwod saal 🙂
Not unlike many other pandit families, we lived in a big-Big joint family. Even if my family did not give Punn every other family in the Family did give Punn. So Punn was in fact observed in the House. It wasn't missed. But then things changed post 1990, families moved separate ways. It's interesting that you mention 'vows'. I have heard that according to Pandit tradition if you start observing Punn for wish-fulfillment then you have to observe it for the rest of your life even if the wish is fulfilled.
Thank you for going to my website, Vinayak!
And for putting up the links here.
I'll be adding a link to your website at my site. Hope to see more Kashmiris and other friends coming by here.
You do what I seek–write about how the customs in our families used to be–what the Pandit way of life used to be.
I am just telling stories that i would have liked to read.
Hmmm..Tithis dont actually disappear or go missing. As Hindu Calender is a Luni-Solar calender. The Solar day is measured from midnight to midnight [24 Hours] and a Solar Month consists of 30 Days. However the Tithis ..Panchami , Ashtami , Ekadashi etc are dependant on Revolution of Moon around the earth and refer to phases of the moon i.e. 27 days. Moreover the orbit of Moon around the earth is eliptical with Earth at one of the focal point. So when moon is near to earth sometimes two lunar days fall withen same solar day..So that is when your Tithi goes missing…its not actually missing but two tithis falling in one solar day. Also when moon is farter from earth sometimes..the Tithi extends beyond 24 Hours.so that leads to two ashtamis or two panchamis..So its just a misbalance between Solar and Lunar Days.. Remember Lunar month is measured from Full Moon to Full Moon. Also you queried regarding two Ashtamis in a month…its true Ashtami means half moon…so its two half moons..one during Waxing Phase [Shukla Paksha] and one during Waning Phase [Krishna Paksha]. Also you are supposed to fast during Shukla Paksha Ashtamis only and not during Krishna Paksha Ashtami barring one ..Janamashtami…Janamashtami is the only Krishna Paksha Ashtami that is auspicious….One more interesting fact…Just like you add a day after every four years in English calender..In Hindu Calender you add an entire Lunar Month after every four years. Yes !!! After every four years an entite month is added to Hindu Calender. This additional month called ""AdhikMasa"" is considered inauspicious..too inauspicious.
..continued…This additional month again is added to balance the Solar-Lunar inbalance..The inbalance beetween Solar Year and Lunar Year…So if Tchoram [Chaturthi] is missing in calender which was supposed to be on 24th…Dont worry actually both triayam and Tchoram are falling on 23rd.anf 24th is Paancham..
Every Year there used to be 4-5 Punn Muhurats..This year only two..Remember this year there was no Punn Muhurat on Vinayak TChoram…No Punn on Vinayak TChoram this year
Unbelievable awesome information about of Kashmiri Calender system! Thank for the detailed explanation, much appreciated, Brother! I am finally beginning to get a hang of it. This is the first time that my birthday went 'missing' ( and I am told yours has gone 'missing' a couple of times!) and I was told it is 'phrootch', lucky. Hah!
Hi Vinayak,
I am a KP as well and I really enjoy reading your blogs! The picture of the Kashmiri Pandit women from the 19th century is amazing. Keep it up!
-Naeha
Thanks for the appreciation, Naeha! And yes that is a rare and beautiful photograph of Kashmiri Pandit women.
Vinayak, I just found your blog. Your writing style is really great and this is an excellent resource for Kashmiri, specially KP, culture. I have been keeping track of the Kashmiri calendar on my site for years now (http://kaulonline.com/calendar), but the raavun-hurun of days always befuddled me, so Dipen's explanation helped.
Kaul thanks for the appreciation! And for sharing the wonderful resource on Kashmiri Calender.