BIRTH
The expectant mother is put in a separate room where no one else except the
midwife and some elderly women of the family are allowed to go. When the midwife
comes, some lentil and salt are taken over the head of the mother-to be and made
over to the midwife. A small pitcher of water, some grains and a small lighted lamp made of flour are kept in the room. An
iron knife and an iron bangle are kept under the pillow as a protection against malignant
spirits.
When the child is born, the women present at the time, call out that a baby
girl is born even if its is a boy. This is done on purpose because it is feared
that with the happiness resulting from the birth of a son, the mother's placenta
may not be released thus spreading poison in her body. If the infant is a son,
shirin leaves are hung out side the house, as an indication of the lucky
incident. Often the happy event is announced by the beat of a metal tray outside
the main door by some female relative. Among some clans, the mother after the
birth of a son has to sleep on the floor for four to five days, but among others
she is made to lie on the floor even at the time of confinement. Some people
make the mother count the beams of the roof after delivery in the belief that she will bear as many sons.
Shortly after its birth, the baby's navel string is cut. If
it is a boy, the
Hindus in Malwa cut a piece of the holy thread worn by an old person in the
family and tie it round the severed part. In case it is a girl, they take a
piece
of home-spun thread to tie it with. When the umbilical cord dries up, it is
thrown over a peepal tree along with the thread with which it was tied. The placenta and the severed cord are both buried in a corner of the house,
for if someone unwittingly steps over it, some calamity is expected to befall
either the mother or the child. A child's life is supposed to be greatly
influenced by the placenta. This belief is based on contiguous magic. If the
child falls ill during the early days of the mother's confinement, a flour lamp
is lit at the place where the placenta is buried. Light is the symbol of life in
Punjabi folklore. Otherwise also light is kept on, day and night in the
room of the mother and the baby for five, seven, eleven or thirteen days
after the birth. The lamp is generally kept on, an unused pitcher containing some
food grains, gur and money which are later given over to the midwife.
The baby is made to taste its first liquid food
(gurhuti)
which is generally administered by some elderly member of the family. After that
the 'breast washing" rite is performed. One of the father's unmarried
sisters or some other related girl soaks a few petals of grass in milk-and-water
and washes the mother's breasts with it. In return for this performance, the
girl is given some money as a gift. After this rite, the baby is put to the
mother's breast.
Making a baby wear its first set of clothes is also done ceremoniously,
though the ritual varies from clan to clan. If a child is born after
many daughters or long after marriage, the members of the family go about from
house to house virtually begging. Out of the money thus collected, they
buy clothes for the new-born. The Vij sub-caste of Khatris has a different
custom. For their new-born, no clothes from the family or even those gifted by
relatives or friends of the same sub-caste are used. Generally all that the baby
wears has to come from the parents of the mother, or from friends
belonging to different sub-castes.
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