Monday, January 20, 2014

The Meaning of Thaipusam to Shern

Shern asked me what is Thaipusam.
Shern asked 'Is it like a typhoon?' (because it rhymes at the first syllable I supposed). lol.

We'd actually bought Shern to watch it last year, on the pre-Thaipusam day, when the procession was going up the temple, with the throwing of the coconuts and all. But I guess he was still too young then and had probably forgotten all about it.

So we decided to bring Shern to watch it again this year. But this year we went on the Thaipusam day itself. We left Khye at home with Ah-yee as he was still too small.

We headed out about 6.30pm. Surprisingly traffic was rather smooth, with just slow moving cars nearer to the vicinity. We parked quite far away, near to Midlands Park, and Shern even spent some time at the playground there.

We walked all the way to the end of Gottlieb Road, where all the excitement was.
 


Very loud Indian music were blaring from the many speakers there, which adds to the atmosphere.


Shern posed with some of the booths there.



And then we found a space for us to rest while waiting for the Kavadis.

 


One of the many Kavadis spotted by devotees.
 

This looked like a heavy one.

Another one of the Kavadis.
 

This one's with many hooks and bells.
 






 

Shern saw everything in awe, but he did not say anything about the piercings and all. I just let it be and let him do his own observation.

Then the sun set and the skies got darker, but the crowd was still huge.
 

There were still devotees carrying Kavadis up to the temple.
We watched one more before we left the place.
 
 


Oh, and did I mention that it was also a balloon fest? There were so many people selling so many kids of baloons. From Mickey Mouse to Ben Ten to Iron Man to Minion and even the Elephant God, and more!
/

Many kids were holding one, and I was glad Shern did not fuss for one. I hate holding balloons when my kids got tired of holding them.


So when we reached home, this is what I asked Shern.

Me: So Shern, do you now know what is Thaipusam?
Shern: Yes, uncle poke poke the holes, but no pain and no blood, because their God blessed them already. And because uncle is a good boy and always obey God!
Me: :)


I think that's a very good answer from a 4-year old, from his own observation.
What do you guys think?

2 comments:

Cindy Lee said...

Love his answers! It put a smile on my face :)

Serenely said...

A very insightful answer, especially for a 4 y.o.!

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